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AN 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



FOR BEGINNERS 



BY 

GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD, Ph.D. 

LECTURER IN ANCIENT HISTORY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY; AUTHOR OF "THE 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ATHENIAN CONSTITUTION," "A HISTORY 

OF GREECE," "A HISTORY OF THE ORIENT AND 

GREECE," AND " A HISTORY OF ROME " 



WITH MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1902 

All rights reserved 




THE LIBRAffV OF 
CONGRESS. 

Two CciPttP Recsiw^c 

SEP. 2o 190? 

COPVPWHT fNTOv 

CLASS ft/ «>^ '^'^ 

COPV R 



Copyright, igo2. 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped September, 1902. 



Nortooot) press 

J. S. Cushin;; & Co. — Berwick & Smith 
Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



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AN ANCIENT HISTORY 

FOR BEGINNERS 



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PREFACE 

The Committee of Seven, in their Report to the American 
Historical Association on the study of history in the schools 
(1899), recommended that a year be given to "Ancient His- 
tory, with special reference to Greek and Roman history, but 
including also a short introductory study of the more ancient 
nations. This period should also embrace the early Middle 
Ages, and should close with the establishment of the Holy 
Roman Empire (800)," or some neighboring event. 

Following the recommendation of the Committee, this book 
aims to present Ancient History as a unit, comprising 
three closely related parts, — the Orient, Greece, and Rome. 
It is adapted to beginning classes in the high school, and 
furnishes material for a year's work. This volume is not to 
take the place of the "Orient and Greece" and "Rome"; 
it is for those who need a briefer and more elementary treat- 
ment of ancient times. 

As it is intended for pupils who have never studied history 
before, the story is told simply, all unfamiliar terms are 
explained, and proper names are syllabified and accented on 
their first occurrence. The larger topics are printed in bold 
type and their subdivisions are in italics. 

Myth, the foundation of ancient thought and an important 
element of modern literature, receives due attention. Al- 
though especial prominence is given to the narrative, the 
effects of geographical conditions and the causal relation of 
events are explained in an elementary way. 



vi Preface 

Tlic manuscript has had the advantage of revision by Miss 
Lula Bartlit Southmayd of the Detroit High School, who 
used it as a text in her first-year class. The book has been 
greatly benefited by her ability and her practical experience 
with young pupils. Mr. Charles Lane Hanson of the Me- 
chanic Arts High School, Boston, has carefully revised the 
manuscript and the proofs. Other improvements are due to 
Dr. Arthur Lyon Cross of the University of Michigan and 
to Mr. P. O. Robinson of the Commercial High School of 
New York City, — formerly of the St. Louis High School, — 
both of whom have read the proofs. Mr. W. J. S. liryan, 
principal of the St. Louis High School, has also taken a 
helpful interest in the work of revision. Miss Emily F. 
Paine of Miss Spence's School, New York City, has aided 
me in obtaining several new illustrations, and has prepared 
the topics for reading in Roman art. My wife has made the 
new reference map of Greece. While I am sincerely grateful 
to all these helpers, I feel that it would be unjust to hold any 
of them responsible for faults which may still remain in the 
book. Lastly, I wish to thank the many teachers who have 
used my histories of Greece and Rome, and who have given 
me the benefit of their suggestions as well as their kind 
appreciation. 

GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD. 

Nf.w York City, 
September i, 1902. 



CONTENTS 

PART I 
THE ORIENT 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

The Beginning of Civilization — Egypt ...... i 

CHAPTER H 
Tlie Asiatic Nations 15 

PART II 
GREECE 

CHAPTER I 

The Country and the People ........ 41 

CHAPTER H 
Tiie Prehistoric Age — Religion and Myth . . . . .49 

CHAPTER HI 
Two Periods of Colonial Expansion . ...... 65 

CHAPTER IV 
National Institutions ......... 73 

CHAPTICR V 

The Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy . . 79 

vii 



viii Contents 

CHAPTER VI 

PAGE 

Sparta and the Peloponnesian League ...... 97 

CHAPTER VII 
Conquest of Asiatic Greece by the Lydians and the Persians . .112 

CHAPTER VIII 
War with Persia and Carthage . . . . . . . .120 

CHAPTER IX 
The Age of Ci men .......... 135 

CHAPTER X 
The Age of Pericles ......... 145 

CHAPTER XI 
The Peloponnesian War to the End of the Sicilian Expedition . 161 

CHAPTER XII 
The Closing Years of the War 179 

CHAPTER XIII 
The End of Freedom in Sicily and in Italy ..... 191 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Supremacy of Sparta . . . . . . . -199 

CHAPTER XV 
Thebes attempts to gain the Supremacy 212 

CHAPTER XVI 
The Rise of Macedon 219 



Contents ix 



CHAPTER XVII 

PAGE 

Alexander's Empire and the Kingdoms formed from it • . . 233 



CHAPTER XVIII 
Private and Social Life ......... 248 

PART III 

ROME 

CHAPTER I 
The People and the Country 254 

CHAPTER II 
The Beginnings of Rome — The Prehistoric Age .... 265 

CHAPTER III 
Rome becomes Supreme in Italy . . . . • . • 280 

CHAPTER IV 
The Plebeians win their Rights 297 

CHAPTER V 
The Expansion of the Roman Power ...... 315 

CHAPTER VI 
The Growth of Plutocracy 336 

CHAPTER VII 
The Revolution — (I) The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla . . . 349 



X Contents 

CHAPTER VIII 

PAGE 

The Revolution — (II) Pompey, Caesar, and Octavius . . . 362 

CHAPTER IX 
The Julian Emperors ......... 381 

CHAPTER X 

The Claudian and the Flavian Emperors 392 

CHAPTER XI 
The Five Good Emperors 400 

CHAPTER XII 
From Commodus to Aurelian ........ 413 

CHAPTER XIII 
From Diocletian to Constantine 420 

CHAPTER XIV 

The Invasion of the Barbarians and the Fall of the Empire in the 

West 428 

CHAPTER XV 
The New German States and the Empire of Charlemagne . . 445 

CHAPTER XVI 
Private and Social Life ......... 463 

Chief Events in Ancient History 470 

Index 476 



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MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



FULL-PAGE AND DOUBLE-PAGE MAPS 

PAGE 

The Orient before 3 

Greece for Reference '■'■ 41 

Physical Greece ........ " 47 

Southern Italy and Sicily " 66 

The Greek World ........ " 72 

Greece at the Dawn of History . ■ . . . . " 76 

The Persian Empire and Greece . . . . . " 116 

Greece at the Time of the War with Persia ... "125 

The Athenian Empire at its Height ..... "147 

Greece at the Beginning of the Peloponnesian War . . " 163 

Greece after the Battle of Mantineia .... " 217 

The Empire of Alexander the Great .... " 237 

Italy before the Punic Wars ...... " 255 

The Vicinity of Rome " 283 

The Expansion of the Roman Power to the Time of the Gracchi " 315 
The Expansion of the Roman Power from the Gracchi to the Death 

of Augustus ........ before 349 

The Roman Empire from Augustus to Diocletian . . " 393 

The Roman Empire under Diocletian and Constantine . " 421 

Charlemagne's Empire (From Adams, European History^ " 459 



MAPS IN THE TEXT 

The Peloponnesian League ........ 103 

Thermopylae ........... 127 

Salamis ............ 130 

Athens and Peiraeus . . = 145 

BayofPylos 166 

Syracuse . . . . . . . - . . . -174 

xi 



xu 



Maps ajid Illustrations 



The Hellespont 

Kingdom of Dionysius .... 

The Theban Tactics in the Battle of Leuctra 

The Tribes of Italy and Sicily . 

Early Rome ...... 

Colonies and Military Roads of Italy 
The Sacred Way ..... 

Imperial Rome ..... 

Europe about 525 a.d. (From Adams, European History) 



PAGE 

184 
194 

210 

257 
278 
295 
386 
388 
446 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 

A Part of the Roman Forum (restored) . . . Frontispiece 

Vale of Tempe ........ facing 43 

Gate of the Lions ........ " 63 

Olympia " 78 

The Olympieium ........ " 91 

Aegina " 119 

The Acropolis of Athens ....... " 135 

The Temple of Victory and the Propylaea . . . " 151 

The Parthenon ........ " '55 

The Modern Town of Sparta ...... '' 205 

The Battle of Issus (?) "235 

The Fall of the Anio ....... " 259 

Mount Ercte . . . . . . . . . " 319 

A Roman Fleet in Harbor (From Rheinhard, Album) . " 375 

Capri .......... " 390 

The Hall of the Emperors ...... "411 

Church of San Apollinare Nuovo ..... " 447 

A Scene near Baiae ........ " 468 



ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT 

Second and Third Pyramids of Gizeh . . . . , 

Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing (From Erman, Ancient Egypt) 
The Sphinx of Gizeh ........ 

Hall of Columns in the Temple of Ammon . . . . 

Coffin and Mummy of a King of the Eighteenth Dynasty , 



I 

4 

6 

8 

II 



Maps mid Illustrations xiii 

PAGE 

A Cuneiform Inscription (From Sweet, //w/w/ ^Zrt:«^«(2jf^) . . 18 

A Chaldean Temple (restored ; Chipiez, after Strabo) ... 20 

Sargon's Palace (restored ; from Perrot and Chipiez) ... 22 

A Winged Bull (From Perrot and Chipiez) ..... 23 

Tomb of Cyrus (Pasargadae ; from Fergusson) .... 33 

Valley of the Stys in Arcadia ........ 41 

Gallery in the Wall of Tiryns 46 

So-called Treasury of Atreus ........ 48 

Royal Tombs at Mycenae ........ 49 

Perseus cutting off Medusa's Head 53 

A Warrior of Mycenae . . . . . . . . -54 

" Theseus "........... 57 

Ideal Statue of Homer 60 

Vessels and Idols from Mycenae ....... 64 

Temple of Poseidon in Posidonia, Italy . . . . . -65 

Fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse ....... 68 

A Greek Vase ........... 72 

Delphi with Modern Village ........ 75 

The Wrestlers ........... 77 

The Areopagus ........... 80 

" Solon " 86 

Athenian Lady at Time of Pisistratus ...... 90 

A Spartan Tombstone ......... 97 

A Winner in the Girls' Foot Races in Elis ..... 100 

Sappho ............ 107 

An Ionic Column (From a restoration of the Erechtheium) '. . 108 
Corinthian Capital . . . . . . . . . .110 

" Themistocles " ' . . . . 118 

Marathon . . . . . . . . . . .120 

"The Warrior of Marathon " (a half-century earlier than the battle) 121 

Bay of Sal amis 128 

A Persian Archer .......... 132 

A Greek Athlete 134 

A Remnant of the Wall of Athens 136 

A Trireme ........... 139 

Discobolus ........... 144 

Athenian Knights .......... 146 

Pericles 148 

Athena Parthenos . .154 



xiv Maps and Illnstmtions 



PAGE 



"Theseium" ........... icc 

Lapith and Centaur . . . . , . . . . .156 

Cecrops and Daughter . . . . . . . . .160 

Victory ............. 162 

Temple of Concordia at Acragas . . . . . . . 1 70 

Zeus and Hera . . . . . . ... . -171 

Stone Quarries at Syracuse . . . . . . . .176 

Poseidon, Dionysus (?), and Demeter (?) 178 

A Sepulcliral Ornament of Marble . . . . . . .185 

Erechtheium . . . . . . . . . . .186 

Euripides . . . . . . . . . . .187 

Socrates . . . . . . . . . . . .189 

Temple Ruins at Selinus . . . . . . . . .192 

Fort Euryelus ........... 193 

Spartan Vase 199 

Citadel of Corinth .......... 203 

Spartan Mosaic . . . . . . . . . .211 

Mount Ithome and City Wall of Messene . ..... 213 

The Plain of Mantineia ......... 216 

Battle between the Greeks and the Amazons . . . . .218 

A Scene in Macedonia . . . . . . . . .219 

Demosthenes ........... 223 

Battle-field of Chaeroneia ......... 226 

Theatre at Epidaurus ......... 229 

The Hermes of Praxiteles . . . . . . . -231 

Alexander in Battle .......... 237 

Apollo Belvedere .......... 246 

A School 248 

A Marriage Procession ......... 250 

A Banquet . . . . . . . . . . .251 

An Athenian Gravestone ......... 252 

Artemis ............ 253 

Temple of Vesta and of the Sibyl . . . . . . . 254 

An Etruscan War God ......... 259 

An Etruscan Tomb .......... 260 

A Doric Temple . . . . . . . . . .261 

A Vestal Virgin 266 

Grotto of the Sibyl 269 

Cinerary Urns representing Primitive Roman Huts .... 270 



Maps and Illustrations xv 

PAGE 

Minerva 274 

Cloaca Maxima 275 

The Wall of Servius 279 

Lucius Junius Brutus . . . . . . . • .281 

An Etruscan Vase . . • . . . . • . • 283 

Roman Soldiers marching 291 

Curule Chair and Fasces ......... 297 

An As 303 

Household Gods 305 

An Old Shepherdess 308 

A Denarius 3^2 

Aesculapius . . . . . . . . • • -312 

"Hannibal" 321 

"Marcellus" 326 

Storming a City 333 

A Street in Pompeii 33^ 

A Proconsul 337 

Ceres 339 

Aedile 342 

" Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus " 344 

Sacrificing a Pig 346 

A Bacchante 347 

Italian Oxen 349 

Youth reading at a Bookcase ........ 350 

An Old Fisherman 352 

"Sulla" . . . ' 360 

Pompey the Great 363 

Cicero 366 

Gaius Julius Caesar .......... iTi- 

Cleopatra 375 

Apollo with a Lyre 377 

Tomb of Cecilia Metella 379 

Julia, Daughter of Augustus, and her Sons Gaius and Lucius . . 380 

Augustus 382 

The Temple of Mars the Avenger 384 

The Pantheon ........... 385 

Vergil 387 

Venus 391 

Claudius 392 



xvi Maps and Illustrations 



PAGE 



Agrippina 394 

The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheatre ...... 396 

A Body found in Pompeii ........ 397 

Nerva in his Consular Robe ........ 400 

The Column of Trajan ......... 401 

Plotina, Wife of Trajan ......... 402 

The Tomb of Hadrian ......... 404 

Marcus Aurelius in his Triumphal Car ...... 406 

A Roman Bridge 41 1 

The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus 413 

Septimius Severus . . . . . . . . . .415 

Sarcophagus of Alexander Severus ....... 416 

The Wall of Aurelian 418 

A Capital from One of the Temples in Palmyra .... 419 

The Triumphal Arch of Constantine ...... 421 

The Basilica of Constantine ........ 426 

The Roman Forum .......... 428 

A German Village .......... 432 

The Baptism of Christ ......... 433 

The Tomb of Galla Placidia, Ravenna ...... 439 

The Good Shepherd ......... 442 

Cathedral of St. Sophia, Constantinople 450 

The Iron Crown of Lombardy ........ 459 

Persian Warriors .......... 461 

Peristyle of a House in Pompeii ....... 463 

A Roman Meal (From Rheinhard, Albiofi) ..... 465 

House Furniture (From Rheinhard, Albn/ji) ..... 466 

Cinerary Urn ........... 467 

A Well-curb 469 



AN ANCIENT HISTORY 

FOR BEGINNERS 




Skcono and TiiiRU Pyramids of Gizeh 
(View from the East) 



ANCIENT HISTORY 

PART I 

THE ORIENT 



CHAPTER I • 

THE BEGINNING OF CIVILIZATION — EGYPT 

1. The Three Ages. — In the far distant past men lived in caves 
or in rude huts, dressed in skins, and used tools of bone, horn, and 
stone. This iirst stage of human progress is called the Stone Age, 
Some have continued in this barbarous condition to the present day; 
others in course of time advanced beyond it, and learned the use of 
bronze — a metal composed of copper and tin. With bronze tools 
men cut large trees and hewed stones for building ; with weapons 

6 I 



2 TJie Begiiming of Civilization — Egypt 

of the same metal they conquered and held in subjection their less 
intelligent neighbors. In the Bronze Age, therefore, men built 
substantial houses and cities, and founded kingdoms, — in other 
words, they began to be civilized. While some nations remained 
contented with this stage of progress, others learned the use of iron. 
With this hard but pliable metal men could do work of many more 
kinds and of a much better quality than had hitherto been possible. 
Hence the Iron Age marks a great advance beyond that of bronze. 

Through these ages the world has been progressing in civilization. 
Those nations are most civilized which have the best homes, society, 
laws, and government, the most advanced science and art, the 
purest religion, the soundest morals, and the brightest minds. As 
some have advanced more rapidly than others, while many have 
remained in the lowest stage of savagery, we find among men of the 
present as well as of tlie past every variety and degree of civilization. 

2. Races of Men. — Those grand divisions, or races, of mankind 
which from the beginning have made httle or no improvement in 
their mode of life are the red race of the Americas, the black race 
of Africa and Australia, and the brown race of the Pacific islands. 
The Tu-ra'ni-au or Mon-go'U-an or yellow race of Asia, to which 
belong the Chinese, in ancient times advanced to a remarkable 
degree of civilization, and then came to a standstill. The Cau- 
cas'i-an or white race, whose early home was the region about the 
Mediterranean Sea, has made most progress in the past, and at 
present some branches of it are still more rapidly advancing.^ 

^ Principal divisions of the white race : — 

I. Hamites { E-gyp'ti-ans 
t- Lib'y-ans 

' Ar'abs 
Chal-de'ans (largely mixed with foreigners) 
II. Semites < As-syr'i-ans 

(Ar-a-mae'ans 
Phoe-ni'ci-ans 
Hebrews 



The Nile River 3 

There are three divisions of the white race : (i) the Ham'ites of 
northern Africa; (2) the Sem'ites of southwestern Asia; (3) the 
Ar'y-ans or Indo-Europeans, whose original home was probably the 
country north of the Black and Caspian seas in Europe and Asia. 
But in tracing the history of the nations we are to bear in mind that 
none of them remained pure in race ; for migrations, conquests, 
and commercial or social intercourse have mingled their blood as 
well as their manners, customs, and ideas. This blending of races 
has been in fact a great cause of progress.^ 

3. Egypt. — Much improvement in mankind, however, is due to 
country and surroundings. And of all the region round the Mediter- 
ranean none is so favored by nature as the valley of the Nile River 
in northeastern Africa. Egypt, the lower part of this valley, extends 
from the First Cataract to the sea. It is seven hundred miles long, 
and varies in width from one or two to twelve miles. A hundred 
miles before the river reaches the sea, it divides into several channels, 
and the valley broadens into the Delta. Every summer, swollen by 
the rains and melting snows of the country in which it rises, the Nile 
overflows the valley ; and when in December the water returns to 
the channel, it leaves the land fertihzed with a rich coat of earth. 

c -, , ■ f Medes 

, . • ,. , , f I-ra'ni-ans < 

r Asiatic branch ^ „. , , I Persians 

l Hin'doos 

III. Aryans J ( Greeks 

Italians 
I ^ European branch <^ Celts 

Teu'tons (or Germans) 
^ Slavs 

This grouping of races, though convenient for the study of political geography 
and history, is not strictly scientific. 

1 With the help of San'skrit, the classic language of India, scholars have 
discovered that the Hindoos, the Persians, and the various nations of Europe 
speak closely related languages, doubtless derived from a common parent tongue. 
Our word " father," for instance, is in Sanskrit pitdr, in ancient Persian pilar, 
in Greek irar-qp (pater), in Latin pater, in German vater, and similarly through 
the other kindred tongues. These words for father have descended from a 



The Beginning of Civilization — Egypt 



In fact the entire soil is composed of mud deposited in this manner. 
The land therefore is wonderfully fertile. With little labor a man 
can raise each year three crops of grain, grasses, flax, and vegetables. 
Grape-vines flourish on the hillsides, and wheat yields a hundred 
fold. The mountains produce an abundance of building stones and 
various kinds of metals. Commerce, too, is easy. Not only does 
the Nile form a natural waterway for domestic trade, but the country 
lies at the meeting of three continents and borders on two navigable 
seas. The warm chmate makes little clothing necessary ; the rain- 
less sky preserves the works of men from decay ; and the mountain 
chains and deserts on both sides protect the people from invading 
armies. With her natural resources and her situation, it is no wonder 
that Egypt became the birthplace of civilization. 

4. Early Civilization; Sources. — The people who lived in this 
country were Hamites. We may sup- 
pose that they had once been barba- 
rians, but as early as 4000 B.C. they were 
already acquainted with many of the arts. 
They had invented, too, a kind of writing 
in which objects were represented by pic- 
tures. A disk O stood for the sun, and 
a crescent ]) for the moon. From pic- 
tures they passed to symbols ; the disk 
of the sun O suggested day, and an axe 
7 god. In course of time there grew up 
a phonetic alphabet,^ which they mingled 



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Egyptian Hieroglyphic 
Writing 



single word in the parent speech. All these nations whose languages are so 
nearly connected we call Aryan or Indo-European. Kindred speech, however, 
does not prove kinship in blood; for often men adopt a foreign tongue and 
hand it down to their children. But as language is a great treasury of ideas, 
we inherit perhaps as much from our parent speech as from our blood. From 
this point of view those who speak a common language may conveniently be 
regarded as belonging to the same race. 

1 That is, an alphabet in which each letter represents a single sound. 



The Old Empire 5 

with their pictures and symbols. As the priests always used these 
early, difficult characters for religious purposes, they are called hiero- 
glyphs — sacred inscriptions. A running style, however, known in 
its later form as common or de-mot'ic, came into use in literature 
and business. 

The Pha'raohs, or kings, of the country took great pains to have 
their deeds recorded. They reckoned time by the years of their 
reigns and by ruling families, or dynasties. Man'e-tho, an Egyptian 
priest who lived in the third century B.C., wrote a history of his 
country. Though the book disappeared, long extracts from it made 
by later writers are still our chief source of information for dates. 
Some tiniC after Manetho all knowledge of the Egyptian alphabets 
was lost to the world till in 1822 Cham-pol'li-on (pron. Sham-), a 
French scholar, deciphered them. In Napoleon's invasion of Egypt 
there had come to light a stone containing the inscription of a decree 
in hieroglyphic and demotic characters with a Greek translation. 
From the place where it was found the slab is called the Rosetta 
Stone. By comparing the corresponding letters of the proper names 
in this inscription, Champollion learned a sufficient number of letters 
to serve as a key for determining the whole alphabet. 

5. The Old Empire (about 4800-3000 B.C.). — At first the Egyp- 
tians lived in small states, each under a petty king. In course of 
time, however, the kings of Memphis became so strong that they 
acquired the rule over all Egypt. As their country was made up of 
many states, it may be called an empire. Through the period of the 
Old Empire Memphis remained the capital. 

The first Pharaoh was Me'nes, whom the Egyptians regarded as 
the founder of Memphis. The next famous dynasty after that of 
Menes was the fourth in the list. The Pharaohs of this family built 
the three pyramids at Gizeh (pron. Gee'zeh), in the cemetery of 
ancient Memphis. Khu'fu, the most illustrious of his dynasty, made 
the largest pyramid. For thirty years his subjects labored on it a 
hundred thousand at a time, relieving one another every three 



6 



TJie Beginning of Civi/ication — Egypt 



months. The buildmg covers thirteen acres, and originally stood 
about four hundred and eighty feet high. We cannot understand by 
what means the workmen could lift and place the stones, — some of 

which weigh fifty tons 
or more, — or by what 
mechanical skill the 
architects could pre- 
vent the great mass 
from falling in upon 
the chambers and cor- 
ridors. Khufu in- 
tended it for his tomb. 
Evidently he thought 
that if his body could 
rest quietly in a sepul- 
chre made for eternity, 
it would be well with 
his soul. The second 
pyramid is not so 
large as the first, and 
the third is far smaller 
but costlier, as it was 
cased in brilliant red granite. Near this group is the famous sphinx, 
a gigantic, human-headed lion, carved from a hard, fine rock. 

6. The Middle Empire (3000-2000 B.C.). — The fourth dynasty 
was followed by a long period of confusion and strife throughout 
Egypt. The trouble was owing chiefly to the character of the kings, 
who were too weak to hold the states or provinces of the empire 
together. Meanwhile Memphis declined in importance, and finally 
Thebes became the capital. The Pharaohs of the eleventh dynasty 
were Theban. They began the period of the Middle Empire, which 
lasted from 3000 to 2000 B.C. 

The Pharaohs of the ta'clfth dynasty conquered Ethiopia, carried 




The Sphinx of Gizeh 



TJie Nczv Empire j 

on an extensive trade with Syria, and built splendid temples in the 
cities of their realm. Among the distinguished kings of the family 
was A-men'em-hat' III, noted chiefly for his improvement of Fay-um', 
an oasis in the desert near the lower Nile. By digging a canal from 
the Nile to Fayura he made it possible to flood this low region so as 
greatly to increase its productivity. A lake in the oasis served as a 
reservoir from which he could irrigate not only the district itself, but 
the entire western half of the valley from Fayum to the sea. 

7. The Hyksos (about 2000-1500 B.C.). ^ In the decline which 
followed this great dynasty a horde of barbarians known as the Hyk'- 
sos — " shepherd kings " — came in from Asia. They plundered the 
country as far as Fayum, burned cities, and slew the inhabitants with- 
out mercy. They brought Egypt again to a low condition of civilization. 
During the five hundred years of their rule, however, they gradually 
adopted the customs and ideas of their subjects. Finally A-ma'sis, 
prince of Thebes, defeated them and drove out their king and army. 

8. The New Empire (about 1500-332 B.C. ). The eighteenth 
dynasty was the first of the New Empire, which extended from the 
expulsion of the Hyksos to the conquest of the country by the 
Greeks.^ The kings of this dynasty first attended to the restoration 
of their country. They rebuilt ruined shrines, enlarged the temple 
of Ammon at Thebes, — founded long before, — put down all politi- 
cal opposition in their own land, and reconquered Ethiopia. Mean- 
time they began the conquest of Syria — a work completed by 
Thoth'mes III. His empire reached from the southern border of 
Ethiopia to the Euphrates River. 

But his country found a powerful enemy in the Hit'tites, a warlike 
people who lived on both sides of Mount Tau'rus. With their allies 
from Asia Minor they soon wrested from Egypt all northern Syria. 
SetH I, an able Pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty, warred against 
them in vain ; his son Ra-me'ses II in sixteen years of hard fighting 
stayed their conquest. He then divided Syria with them by treaty. 

^ § 194- 



8 



The Beginning of Civilization — Egypt 



Father and son were among Egypt's most famous builders. The 
grandest of Seti's works was the pillared hall which formed the main 
entrance to the great temple of Amnion at Thebes. Modern travel- 
lers have won- 
dered at the long 
rows of gigantic 
columns which 
once supported 
the lofty roof. 
Undoubtedly this 
hall is "the most 
splendid single 
chamber that has 
ever been built by 
any architect, and 
even in its ruins 
one of the grand- 
est sights that the 
world contains.'" 
Recently the col- 
umns have suffered 
great injury from 
digging beneath 
them. As a 
builder Rameses 
II is even more 
famous than his 
father. Through- 
out Egypt he re- 
paired old temples and erected new ones. The proud monarch had 
his sculptors make many enormous statues of himself that all might 
duly appreciate his great majesty. Following the Egyptian custom 

^ Rawlinson, Story of Egypt, p. 245. 




Hall of Columns in the Temple of Ammon 
(Thebes, now Karnak) 



Oriental Civilization 9 

of covering walls and columns with pictures and writing, he took es- 
pecial pleasure in representing his personal combats with the Hittites. 
As he employed many foreigners on his works, some beUeve that he 
was the Pharaoh who oppressed the Hebrews then in Egypt, and 
that his weak son Me-neph'tha was the one in whose reign they set 
out for the promised land. 

Soon after Rameses the country divided into small states, which in 
time fell under the rule of Assyria. Then with the help of Greek 
mercenaries Psam-mefi-chus, governor of one of these states, re- 
united Egypt and freed it from Assyria. As he treated the Greeks 
liberally, many settled in the Delta, and many came to see the 
wonders of the country and to learn its wisdom. After his dynasty 
had ruled nearly a hundred and fifty years, however, Egypt became 
a part of the Persian empire (525 B.c.).^ 

9. Oriental Civilization. — The civilization of the Orient — com- 
prising Egypt and Asia — contrasts strikingly with that of Europe. 
The Easterner has a vivid imagination, but his reasoning power has 
never been so strong or so well trained as that of the European. He 
does not think consistently or follow his reason, but is naturally obe- 
dient, ready to yield to authority. As a result of this character reli- 
gion exercises great influence over all his actions; and he holds the 
priests in especial reverence. In poUtical matters he has no thought 
of independence, but obeys the king as a child obeys his parent. 
Government in the Orient, therefore, is always monarchical; the 
kings are absolute masters of their subjects. This power enables 
them to build on a grand scale. Hence we find throughout the 
Orient vast ruins of palaces, temples, statues, and other works. 
Though in the main all Eastern nations are alike, they show some 
minor differences of character and customs. We shall now notice 
the civilization of Egypt. 

10. Classes of People. — Throughout their history most of the 
people were poor. They lived in mud huts ; they dressed in a single 

1 §§ 26, lOI. 



10 The Beginning of Civilizatioii — Egypt 

cotton garment ; their children went unclad to the age of twelve or 
fourteen. While the mother carried water, ground meal between two 
stones, baked bread in the ashes, sewed, spun, and wove, the father 
worked from morning till night in the field or at his trade. Whether 
as peasant, swineherd, cowherd, boatman, shopkeeper, or artisan — 
in any case he toiled under a master who beat him for the slightest 
mistake or inattention to duty. Nevertheless he was happy ; he 
laughed heartily at everything, and on pay-day indulged too freely in 
beer. 

Though children of every class usually followed the occupation of 
the parents, some of the ambitious poor sent their boys to school, 
where they learned to read and write. With this opportunity an in- 
telligent youth might become a scribe. With industry, skill, and intel- 
hgence he might rise through the various grades of this profession to 
a high office or a priesthood. He could then have a fine brick man- 
sion, a beautiful garden, land, and slaves. 

"WxQ priests were a numerous and wealthy class, for the gods owned 
a third of the land of Egypt, and each required the service of many 
priests or priestesses. At the head of this class stood Pharaoh, him- 
self a god with supreme control of the state religion. Reserving for 
his kinsmen the chief priesthoods of the great national divinities, he 
permitted the governors of provinces to hold the highest offices in 
their several districts. Thus it often happened that a man was at 
once priest and magistrate. 

The priests dressed in linen, bathed twice each day and twice in 
the night, and shaved their heads, faces, and entire bodies, to keep 
themselves as clean as possible. " They enjoy good things not a few, 
for they do not consume or spend any of their own substance, but 
have sacred bread baked for them, and they have each a great quan- 
tity of beef and geese coming in to them every day, and also wine of 
grapes is given them." ' They lived in the sacred buildings, drew 
salaries from the temple revenues, and with the sacred scribes, 
^ Herodotus ii. 37. 



The Military Class 



II 



attendants, and artisans, they were free from taxes and military service. 
There is no wonder then that every one longed to be a priest. 

Far less favored was the military class. Those who belonged to it 
received from the king seven-acre lots free from taxes. This class, 
accordingly, occupied another third of the land. The army was made 
up of spearmen, archers, and men in chariots. As the miUtary class 
did not suffice, each province sent a company of common men, and 
many foreigners served the king for pay. The Egyptian disliked 




Coffin and Mummy of a King of the Eighteenth Dynasty 
(Amenophis I) 

military duties, and fought without spirit. " Come, now, whilst I tell 
you about his march into Syria, his journeys to distant lands." His 
provisions and water are upon his shoulders like the burden of an ass, 
and weigh upon his neck like that of an ass, till the joints of his spine 
are displaced. He drinks foul water — still perpetually mounting 
guard. When he reaches the enemy? — he is only a trembling bird. 
If he returns to Egypt? — he is no better than old, worm-eaten 
wood." ^ 

^ Cf. Maspero, Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria, p. 90. 



1 2 The Beginning of Civilization — Egypt 

11. Religion. — Men preferred to die at home that their kinsmen 
might provide for their happiness in the spirii zvorld. As they be- 
Heved that the soul, or double, perished with the body, they took 
great pains to have the corpse embalmed so as to preserve it forever. 
They placed with it in the tomb furniture, tools, and ornaments for 
the use of the double. The dwellings of the wealthy dead were real 
palaces, even more sumptuously furnished and adorned than the 
homes of the living. In popular belief the double lived content in 
his tomb, coming forth to disturb those kinsmen only who failed to 
bring him food; and when all offerings ceased, he partook of the sac- 
rifices painted or carved on the walls of his dwelling, for to him 
these pictures were real. Some, however, imagined that the doubles 
travelled a difficult road westward to a large lake, whence they could 
see the Blessed Isles in the distance. An ibis carried them across, 
or they embarked in a boat rowed by a divine ferryman. When 
they had come to the other shore, 0-si'ris with forty-two assistants 
judged them for the deeds done in the body. If innocent, they 
dwelt henceforth in fertile fields, holding eternal holiday.^ 

An extremely religious people, the Egyptians believed in a multi- 
tude of gods, who had the forms of men and women, of monsters, or 
of animals, as birds, fish, crocodiles, cats, dogs, and cattle. The high- 
est of all is Ra, the sun-god. Born every morning, he guides his bark 
over the heaven, descending at night to the river beneath the earth. 
He fights with the serpent who brings night and eclipse ; he tri- 
umphs over his enemy, and is born anew at the dawn. The Pharaohs 
imitate his majesty and erect obelisks - to represent his rays. Horus 
is the sky ; his eyes are the sun and moon. Sometimes his worship- 
pers think of him, too, as a hero traversing each day the heaven in 

* The monuments and literature of the Egyptians afford no evidence of a belief 
in the transmigration of souls. 

2 An obelisk is a tall, four-sided pillar gradually tapering upward. The shaft is 
a single stone. The Pharaohs erected many obelisks, one of which now stands 
in Central Park, New York City. 



Industries and Science 13 

glory and at night contending with his dark brother Set, the spirit of 
the earth. 

Of the many gods of the river the chief is 0-sVris, giver of joy 
and Ufe. Slain by his wicked brother, he rose from the dead and 
sits in judgment on souls. Fsis, his wife, is the spirit of the fertile 
soil, from which all derive their sustenance. Each city and province 
has a supreme deity. The least noble feature of their religion is the 
worship of animals. The people of Memphis, for instance, have a 
temple to A'pis, the bull in whom dwells the soul of Ptah. During 
the life of the animal they keep him in extravagant luxury, and when 
he dies they embalm him at enormous expense, and mourn him till 
the priests find another bull into which the deity has entered. 

To preserve their ceremonies they committed them to writing. 
Among these works the Book of the Dead gives the soul minute 
directions for his journey from the death-bed to the Isles of the Blest. 
Many of their hymns to the gods, proverbs, fables, stories of adven- 
ture, and even some of their novels have come down to us. We 
have, too, a great mass of their letters and documents, besides abun- 
dant inscriptions on temples, tombs, statues, and obelisks. 

12. Industries and Science. — They made an excellent paper from 
the pa-py'rus, an abundant marsh reed. They excelled in many indus- 
trial arts. The fine linen of Egypt was renowned the world over. 
After the conquest of Syria had brought the country vast riches, the 
goldsmiths showed rare skill in making rings, bracelets, and other 
jewellery. At the same time the wealthy began to display on their 
tables a great variety of beautiful plate. The bronze smiths made 
delicate enamel work and graceful statuettes. Glass-workers blew 
their material in artistic forms, or cut and colored it in imitation of 
gems. 

They made equal progress in the useful sciences. For the purpose 
of surveying their land, they sought out the essentials of arithmetic 
and geometry. In their cloudless sky they followed the wanderings 
of the planets and observed the risings and settings of the stars. 



14 The Beginning of Civilization — Egypt 

Astronomy aided them in determining the solar year of three hundred 
and sixty-five and a fourth days. Their medical writings show an 
accurate knowledge of anatomy, but superstitiously prescribe charms 
for the cure of diseases. 

A conservative people, the Egyptians from the beginning insisted 
on preseiinng the customs of the ancestors. Gradually this respect 
for the wisdom of past generations grew on them till they absolutely 
refused to learn anything new. By the end of the Hyksos period 
all progress had ceased. The priests had reduced the minutest 
details of worship to fixed forms, from which no one dared depart. 
As the books now prescribed what they, the king, and the high magis- 
trates should do at every hour in the day, the upper class became 
the slaves of ceremony. In the same way they regulated the arts 
and sciences, so that future artists merely imitated existing models, 
and physicians were strictly held to the written word. Meantime 
the wealth of the people had gone to the gods, superstition had 
robbed their sound moral precepts of all meaning, their intellectual 
life had come to a standstill — Egypt was a mummy. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Brief History. — Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, ch. iii ; Marietta, Out- 
lines of Ancient Egyptian History ; Rawlinson, Story of Egypt, to p. 380. 

II. Life. — Erman, ch. viii; Rawlinson, pp. 60-64 ; ^^^^^pt^o. Life in Ancient 
Egypt and Assyria, chs. i-x. 

III. Temples. — Maspero, Egyptian Archaeology, ch. ii. § 2. 

IV. Tombs. — Maspero, Egyptian Archaeology, ch. iii. 

V. Useful Arts. — Erman, chs, xviii, xix; Maspero, Egyptian Archaeology, 
ch. V. 

VI. Beliefs and Customs. — Herodotus ii. 37-97. 



CHAPTER II 

THE ASIATIC NATIONS 

13. The Geography and People of Western Asia. — East of Egypt, 
across the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, is the sandy desert of 
Arabia. The map of the Orient, facing page 3, shows the great 
area of this country. It forms the central part of a broad triangle, 
the east side of which is the Za'gros range and the west side is the 
Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus range. Throughout the country 
there is little rain ; and the districts not watered by springs or rivers 
are therefore very dry. Most of the people of this triangle were 
Semites,* and their parent stock was probably the wandering race 
of Arabs. In addition to Arabia, the triangle contains two regions, 
— the basin of the Ti'gris and Eu-phra'tes rivers on the east and 
Syria on the west, — separated by the Arabian and Syrian deserts. 
Syria is a land of hills aiid mountains ; the river region is a plain 
consisting of an undulating upland, named As-syr'i-a, in the north 
and a flat lowland, called Chaldea (pron. Kal-de'a), in the south. 
The peoples of the river basin and of Syria were one in race, in 
speech, and in civilization. Their history, too, is closely connected. 
It begins nearly as far back in the past as that of Egypt ; and for 
more than three thousand years (3800-550 B.C.) they were the 
chief nations of Asia. 

Finally when this triangular area ceased to be the centre of 
Asiatic history, the mountainoiis highland east of the Zagros 
range came into prominence. It was occupied at that time (about 
550 B.C.) by the Medes and the Persians, two nations of Aryan 

15 



1 6 The Asiatic Nations 

speech and closely related to each other. From their time to ours 
men of Aryan speech have ruled the civilized world. 

Extending westward from the continent of Asia and nearly surrounded 
by seas and straits is the broad peninsula called Asia Minor. The 
interior is a dry table-land ; along the coasts are low fertile plains. 
In ancient times many nations occupied this country. The most 
important were the Greeks who came as colonists to the western 
coasts, and the Lyd'i-ans in the interior near the Greeks.^ There 
was commerce between Asia and Europe, not only by sea but also 
overland through Asia Minor. This peninsula, therefore, did a good 
service to civilization by helping bring the Asiatics and the Europeans 
together. 

I. The People about the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers 

. 14. The Supremacy of Chaldea (3800-1250 B.C.). — Chaldea, the 
flat country on the lower Euphrates, was nearly as fertile as Egypt. 
It was watered, however, not by overflows, but by autumn rains and 
by canals from the river. The earliest inhabitants whom we know 
were the Su-ftie'ri-ans or Ac-ca'di-ans, who were probably of Turanian^ 
blood. In early time, however, great numbers of Semites had set- 
tled in the country with the older inhabitants ; and while the earlier 
language continued in use for official and religious purposes, the 
Semitic tongue prevailed in everyday life. These two races gradually 
formed the Chaldean people, renowned as the beginners of civiliza- 
tion in Asia. 

The chief cities were Ur, Ac'cad, and Bab'y-lon. At the beginning 
of their written history, about 2400 B.C., Ur was the capital of nearly 
all the country. It did not hold this position long, for a century 
later the king of E'lam conquered all Chaldea, and his successors 
continued to govern it for two hundred years. The Elamites readily 
adopted the religion and the superior civilization of their subjects. 
Not content with this small country, they marched farther west, and 
1 See map of Greece, between pp. 40, 41. '^ § 2. 



Assyria 17 

subdued Syria. Through this conquest, as well as through earlier 
trade, the Syrians received many ideas and useful arts from Chaldea.^ 

Years after the fall of the Elamite empire, Babylon became the 
capital of Chaldea. Though in 1250 B.C. it was compelled to sub- 
mit to the king of Assyria, it remained long afterward the wealthiest 
and most refined city of Asia. 

15. The Supremacy of Assyria (1250-606 B.C.). — In the upland 
about the Tigris River was the younger but more famous Semitic 
state of Assyria. When we first become acquainted with the Assyr- 
ians, we find them struggling with surrounding nations and gradually 
extending their kingdom by conquests. About 1250 B.C. they sub- 
dued Babylon, which they continued to rule for six centuries. Mean- 
time they gradually extended their empire northeastward to the 
Caspian Sea and in the opposite direction to Egypt. 

The kings of earlier states had been content with receiving gifts 
from conquered peoples ; but the Assyrian monarchs introduced the 
custom of organizing subject countries in provinces. Each province 
was under a governor appointed by the king ; each had taxes to pay 
and other duties to perform. This system marks a great advance in 
the art of government. 

In course of time, however, as the kings became less warlike and 
able, their power declined. Taking advantage of the weakness of 
Assyria, the king of Media and the viceroy of Babylon together led 
their forces against Nin'e-veh, the capital. After a two years' siege 
they took the city and sacked it. When they had finished their work, 
her splendid temples and palaces were ruins. At the same time the 
empire fell (606 B.C.). 

Persons and Events in Assyrian History 

B.C. 

1125. Tig'lalh-Pi-le'ser I, first notable Assyrian conqueror. 

860-783. First great age of Assyria. 

745-727. Tiglath-Pileser II, a great organizer as well as conqueror. 

1 S o-y 



1 8 The Asiatic Nations 

722-705. Sar'gon, a great organizer and statesman; Assyria at the height of 

her glory. 
705-680. Sen-nach'e-rib wages war with Egypt and Israel, and destroys 

Babylon. 
680-668. E'sar-had'don rebuilds Babylon and conquers Egypt. 
668-626. As'shur-ban'i-pal, the last magnificent king. 
Egypt and Media become independent. 
The Scyth'i-ans invade the empire. 
606. The destruction of Nineveh. 

16. The Supremacy of Babylon (606-538 B.C.). In destroying 
Nineveh the viceroy of Babylon made his city independent. His 
son, Neb-u-chad-nez'zar, in an able reign of forty-four years, built 
up an empire which reached westward to the Mediterranean. A 
great part of his energy he devoted to the improvement of his 



^JTT 



-T-IWTT^SHT-C^t^n^cs {KSr*^T5TH^ 



Tf triT." iAs3,^m A<s!s^ AW 



A Cuneiform Inscription 

country and to its defence against the Median empire, which ex- 
tended along his northern border. He fortified this frontier with 
a brick wall a hundred feet high, and surrounded his city with mas- 
sive defences. While he maintained peace with Media, he was thus 
preparing to resist an attack. The Medians troubled him little, but 
some years after his death his city fell into the hands of the Per- 
sians (538 B.C.).^ 

17. Civilization of Chaldea and Assyria; Literature. — The Chal- 
dean alphabet was far different from that of Egypt. Each letter 
was a group of wedge-shaped marks, whence the writing is termed 
cuneiform — from cu'ne-us, a wedge. Some letters represented words, 
others syllables. Instead of paper they used bricks and clay tablets. 
The Assyrians adopted this alphabet, and even used the old Sume- 
rian language for religious purposes. Hence it has come about that 
modern scholars, after deciphering the Assyrian writing with the 

I §26. 



Religion 19 

greatest difficulty, have been able to proceed from this starting-point 
to the vastly older literature of Ur and Accad. In addition to 
grammars, dictionaries, religious books and hymns, they have left us 
business accounts, public documents, and laws, which throw light 
upon their private and social life. They had two national epics, — 
one the story of creation closely related to that given in our Bible, 
and the other a tale of the hero Iz-du-bar'. The latter story tells how 
strangers oppressed the holy city E'rech till mighty Izdubar killed 
the cruel king and set his country free. The hero's combats with 
monsters remind us of the labors of the (jreek Her'a-cles,^ whereas 
the story of the flood, which forms part of the epic, resembles the 
one we have read in our Bible. 

The Assyrians inherited all this literature and added greatly to 
the store. The kings were careful to keep minute records of their 
reigns, and especially the later rulers took pleasure in making collec- 
tions of books. The library found in the palace of King Asshur- 
bani-pal at Nineveh is a treasure to modern scholars. 

18. Religion. — The two nations of the river basin possessed the 
same religion as well as the same literature. The dense population 
about the lower Euphrates had to contend against many evils, — 
the desert wind, swarms of devouring locusts, fever, and plague. 
The spirits of these destroying forces were demons, whom art repre- 
sented as horrible monsters. Chief of the higher deities were An'u, 
king of heaven and father of the gods ; Bel, lord of earth ; and the 
wise E'a, master of destiny, whose dwelling was in the waters. 
These three formed the supreme triad. The second triad was com- 
posed of Sin, the moon ; Sha'mash, the sun ; and Ram'man, who 
from his home in the air governed the rains and the storms. These 
six gods, together with their wives, formed a grand council, below 
which came the deities of the five planets, — Ju'pi-ter, Venus, Sat'- 
urn, Mars, and Mercury, — then several other orders of celestial and 
terrestrial spirits. The chief goddess was Ish'tar (or As-tar'te), the 

^45- 



20 



TJie Asiatic Nations 




A Chaldean Temple 
( Restored ; Chipiez, after Strabo) 

evening and morning star, queen of life and nature, sometimes 
thought of as pure, sometimes as grossly immoral. In addition to 



Art 21 

these Chaldean gods the Assyrians worshipped As'shur, who gave 
his name to the country and the people. He was the great lord, 
the peerless chief of all the gods, the protector of the king. 

The Chaldeans and Assyrians worshipped idols of stone and clay. 
They brought their offerings to the priest, who presented these 
sacrifices to the gods. As the priests alone were acquainted with 
religious ceremonies, they occupied a place of great honor and 
influence. The king as the chief of the class appointed festivals, 
in which magistrates and priests marched in solemn procession and 
offered costly sacrifices. As conquests brought wealth, the higher 
classes lived in luxury and became immoral. 

19. Art. — As the Chaldeans had little wood or stone, they used 
for their buildings bricks made of clay mixed with straw. With 
this material they erected high terraced towers as foundations for 
temples, and surrounded their cities with huge walls. Such works 
had neither the art nor the durability of Egyptian buildings. In 
place of grand ruins scattered over their plains we therefore find 
mere heaps of rubbish. 

Lacking originality, the Assyrians adopted the art as well as the 
literature and the religion of Chaldea. Although their country 
abounded in stone, they made their buildings almost wholly of brick, 
and preferred artificial mounds to hills as sites for temples and 
palaces. In Chaldea the temple was the all-important building ; the 
Assyrian king, on the other hand, devoted his wealth and the labor 
of his subjects to the erection of an enormous palace. As a foun- 
dation he raised a huge rectangular platform of sun-dried bricks, or 
sometimes of earth, held in on all sides by stone walls. On one end 
were flights of steps for people on foot, and on an adjoining side 
an inclined road for animals and carriages. On this mound the 
king built his oblong dwelling, which contained great open courts, 
several long narrow halls of state, and a multitude of smaller rooms. 
It was probably but one story high, and the roofs of the various parts 
rested on wooden rafters. In one quarter, however, rose a terraced 



22 



TJie Asiatic Nations 




CO u 

2 ^ 

C/3 .. 



Public Works 



23 



tower of the Chaldean pattern, on the top of which stood the chapel. 
The palace was vast ; that of Sennacherib at Nineveh covered more 
than twenty acres. Works of such material decayed so rapidly that 
a king usually preferred the glory of building a new palace to the 
expensive task of repairing that of his father. 




A Winged Bull 
(Assyrian art ; from Perrot and Chipiez) 

At the gates stood pairs of colossal lions or bulls with wings and 
human heads ; and the alabaster slabs which faced the lower -part 
of the walls within the courts and halls were decorated with bas- 
reliefs representing scenes from the life of the king. Although his 
sculptors did not succeed in making the human form graceful, they 
excelled in the lifelike representation of animals. 



24' The Asiatic Nations 

Under the Babylonian supremacy public luorks were carried out 
on the grandest scale. Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon with great 
magnificence. It lay on both banks of the Euphrates in the form 
of a square about fifty miles in circuit. The king surrounded it 
with a wall eighty-seven feet in thickness and three hundred and 
fifty feet high. He built, too, a wall along each bank of the river 
within the city. 

The number of laborers at his command we may judge from his 
statement that but fifteen days were required to build his great 
palace. To please his Median queen, who was accustomed to moun- 
tain scenery, he constructed the famous " hanging gardens " — an 
artificial hill rising in terraces, supported by arches and covered 
with trees, shrubbery, and flowers. These gardens as well as the 
walls were among the wonders of the world. The king erected, too, 
the great terraced temple of Bel, eight stories high, with an in- 
clined road winding about it from base to summit. The rich built 
their houses along the broad straight avenues which the king had 
laid out. In his time Babylon was the largest, the richest, and 
probably the most attractive city in the world. 

20. Science and Industry. — In science as well as in literature 
and religion the Semites of the Tigris and Euphrates basin aimed at 
the useful. They excelled in agriculture, and made equal progress 
with the Egyptians in arithmetic and geometry. But their greatest 
advance was in astronomy. From immemorial time the Chaldean 
priests in their lofty temples watched the sky and recorded daily 
the movements of the stars.^ They gave the world weights, meas- 
ures, the sun-dial, the water-clock, the division of the month into 
four weeks and of the day into hours and minutes. All their 
knowledge they committed to books, whose pages were clay tablets, 
carefully placed in order in the library of the king's palace or of the 
chief temple for the use of scribes, priests, and officials. 

1 We are told by an ancient writer that the record of astronomical observation 
began in 2234 B.C. 



The Syrians 25 

Skilled industry, beginning in the earliest Chaldean times, reached 
a high degree of excellenee under Nebuchadnezzar. The Babyloni- 
ans of his age manufactured articles of metal, glass, and clay ; but 
their most famous wares were tapestries, musUn, and linen. Their 
merchandise they had long been sending abroad over the whole 
civilized world, till many nations had learned their ideas, their 
science, and their useful arts. The civilization of Babylon prevailed 
throughout western Asia ; it deeply influenced Asia Minor, and 
reached even to Europe. 

21. Government and "War. — The Chaldeans were inventors in 
art, science, and skilled industry ; the Assyrians in political and 
military organization. The latter introduced provinces and tributes, 
as we have already noticed,^ and they governed more skilfully 
than had the Egyptians and the Chaldeans. Their armies moved 
with a fierce energy which terrified enemies ; and those who dared 
resist or rebel the king punished with the utmost cruelty. A king 
thus boasts of a conquest, — "I built a pillar at the gate of the 
city ; I then flayed the chief men, and covered the post with their 
skins ; I hung the dead bodies from the same pillar, I impaled others 
on top of the pillar, and I ranged others on stakes round the pillar."^ 
All the Asiatics, however, were cruel ; and it would not be fair to 
think of the Assyrians as much less humane than their fellows. 

In taking leave of the Chaldeans and Assyrians, we may say that 
they developed some of the arts and sciences, as well as political 
and military organization, beyond the point reached by the Egyp- 
tians, and that through commerce and conquest they gave their 
ideas and inventions to many foreign nations. In this way they 
greatly aided the progress of the world. 

II. The Syrians 

22. The Phoenicians. — In contrast with the plain of the Tigris 
and Euphrates, Syria, as we have seen,'^ is a mountainous country. 

1 § 15. 2 cf, Maspero, Struggle of the Nations, p. 638 f. ^ § 13. 



26 TJie Asiatic Nations 

The Semitic tribes who occupied most of it would not combine 
in their own defence, and therefore had usually to submit to the 
rule either of Egypt or of the great states about the Tigris and 
Euphrates. Their location,, however, between two seats of civihza- 
tion gave them an opportunity to profit by the ideas and inventions 
of both, and to gain wealth by carrying merchandise from one to the 
other. As early as 3000 b.c. they were adopting the customs and the 
arts of Chaldea, and were carrying on a lively trade with Egypt. 

The principal Semitic tribes or nations of Syria were the Aramaeans 
in the north, the Phoenicians on the coast, and the Hebrews in 
Ca'naan, a district in the south. The Phoenicians occupied the nar- 
row strip of land between the sea and Mount Leb'an-on. 

Careful tillers of the soil, they made this little country produce its 
utmost. In the mountains they cut the famous "cedars of Lebanon" 
for palaces and temples in all the neighboring states, and from a 
small shell-fish in the sea they made a rich purple dye for the use 
of lords and kings. " They were skilful workers in metals, and pro- 
duced exquisite cups, dishes, ewers, and ornaments of all sorts in gold, 
silver, and bronze ; their glasswares were as famous as Bohemian and 
Venetian glass is nowadays ; and their looms were not idle." ^ 

Sidon and Tyre were the chief cities. Sidon, reputed the elder, 
grew from a fishing station to a great centre of commerce. In 
course of time (about 1000 B.C.) it was surpassed by Tyre, built 
partly on a rocky island near the coast. 

As the commerce of the Phoenicians was already extensive in the 
fifteenth century B.C., we may suppose that hundreds of years earlier 
they began their voyages in the Mediterranean. Their chief object 
was to search for the shell-fish, which they found in abundance along 
the coast of Asia Minor and of Greece, and for the precious and use- 
ful metals. In their trade with the natives, they bartered Oriental 
goods for the raw products or the finished wares of every country to 
which they came. On the shores and islands of the Ae-ge'an Sea 
^ Ragozin, Story of Assyria, p. 81. 



The Hebrews 27 

they found an especially active people. Here flourished a civilization 
nearly as ancient as that of Chaldea. Modern scholars have gener- 
ally believed that the Phoenicians brought these people the rudiments 
of civilization. In fact it is impossible to determine how early and 
in what way the Easterners and Westerners came to know each other. 
The Phoenician merchant continued to trade with the Aegean folk 
long after they had learned to live in cities, to enjoy the refinements 
of civihzation, and to show taste and skill in the manufacture of vari- 
ous wares. He found a successful rival in the Cretans, a seafaring 
people, who doubtless for centuries carried on much of the trade 
between the Orient and Europe (about 1 600-1 100 B.C.). But when 
the Cretan naval power declined, the Phoenicians pushed westward. 
Wherever convenient they founded trading stations, as in Cyprus, in 
Rhodes, at Carthage in northern Africa, and at Ga'des (Cadiz) in 
southern Spain. They obtained tin from Britain and amber from the 
Baltic shores. Their trade by ship and caravan extended from the 
British Isles to India. Not only were they the greatest commercial 
people of the ancient world, but the carriers of civilization throughout 
their journeys by land and sea. Their best achievement is the inven- 
tion of a purely phonetic alphabet of twenty-two letters, from which 
all other phonetic alphabets are supposed to have been derived. 

The Hebrews 

23. Conquest of Canaan. — In the desert of Arabia, probably 
the early home of the Semites,^ most of the tribes had no settled 
abode but wandered about with their flocks in search of pasture. 
It often happened that a tribe abandoned the severe motherland 
for some more pleasant country, where it either conquered the 
earlier dwellers or settled peaceably among them. In this way the 
Semites occupied Chaldea, Assyria, and Syria. The great states 
often found it necessary to fight against the Arabs in order to confine 

Mi3- 



28 The Asiatic Nations 

these rovers to their own country ; but when no one was able to attend 
to this service, fresh hordes poured forth from the wilderness upon 
the cultivated lands and the towns of the neighborhood. 

Such an invading race were the Hebrews. Their writers tell us 
that Abraham, their remote ancestor, left his home in Ur to wander 
in Canaan, a land Jehovah had promised him and his descendants, 
and that after many years his grandson Jacob, or Is'ra-el, went with 
his family to Egypt to escape famine. From this country four centu- 
ries later Moses led the Israelites, now a numerous host, into the 
desert of Mount Si'nai, there to receive laws from Jehovah before 
journeying onward to the promised land. After dwelling some time 
about Mount Sinai, they invaded Canaan, seized the land, and killed 
or enslaved the inhabitants. This conquest took place probably 
about the middle of the twelfth century b.c. 

In their new home the twelve tribes, who claimed descent from the 
twelve sons of Israel, occupied each a distinct territory. For about 
a century and a half the tribes had Httle political connection with one 
another (about 1150-1010 B.C.) ; accordingly \\\q. judges, who gen- 
erally ruled each a part of the nation, found it impossible to protect 
the people from their neighbors. Under these circumstances most 
of the Israelites became subject to the Phi-hs'tines, who lived west of 
them on the coast. About the year 10 10 B.C. Saul, a noble of the 
tribe of Benjamin, defeated the Philistines and won thereby the title 
of king of his tribe. He displayed remarkable energy in uniting the 
Hebrews under his control and in freeing them from their oppressors. 
But in the end these terrible enemies overthrew his army, and killed 
both the king and his son Jon'a-than. 

24. David (1000-962) and Solomon (962-930 B.C.). — David, 
already anointed king of his tribe Judah, in time made Israel a single 
state wholly independent of Philistia. By conquering various small 
tribes of Syria he extended his kingdom northward to the Euphrates 
and southward nearly to Egypt. Jerusalem, which to his time had 
remained in the hands of the Canaanites, he made the capital and 



Religion ajid Literature 29 

religious centre of his realm. As the founder of the united kingdom 
and of Jehovah's shrine at Jerusalem, he became the national hero 
of the IsraeUtes. Notwithstanding these great services his extensive 
wars and heavy taxes oppressed the people, who were ready to follow 
his son Ab'sa-lom in a revolt against the king. But the son fell, and 
the father continued to rule. 

When David died, Solomon, another son, succeeded to the throne. 
His reign was in many ways glorious. Devoting himself to peace, he 
built in Jerusalem a magnificent temple to Jehovah. His ships in 
the Mediterranean and Red seas brought him the products of distant 
lands. He surrounded his court with all the luxury and splendor of 
an Oriental despot. His empire did not last long, however, for in 
his own lifetime Da-mas'cus, regaining its freedom, became the seat 
of a rival Aramaean poiver} After his death the Hebrews divided 
into two states : Judah continued under the rule of his descendants, 
but the other tribes revolted and established the kingdom of Israel, 
whose capital soon came to be Samaria. Henceforth these three 
states, in addition to some smaller tribes of Syria, were constantly at 
war with one another, while both Israel and Judah suffered from civil 
strife. In time they all became tributary to the Assyrians, who, to 
punish Israel for frequent rebellion, carried the people into captivity. 
Some time afterward Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, treated 
Judah in the same way, and destroyed Jerusalem (586 B.C.). Finally 
the Jews — men of Judah — returned and rebuilt their city (§§ 15, 
16, 26). 

25. Religion and Literature. — Before the period of exile most of 
the Hebrews were worshippers of the various Semitic gods. Some 
of their rehgious customs and ideas they had brought with them from 
the desert ; many others they adopted from the Canaanites. From 
very early time, however, there were among them leaders and proph- 
ets who saw in Jehovah the only God, and who strove to uproot 
paganism wholly from the nation. The establishment of Jehovah's 

1§22. 



30 The Asiatic Nations 

shrine with a priesthood at Jerusalem — the work of David — was an 
important step in this direction. Under Solomon the masses were 
still idolatrous ; and the crafty king patronized the gods in order to 
secure the good will of his Canaanitish subjects. The priests and 
prophets of Jehovah, however, continued to insist on the command- 
ment, " Thou shalt worship no other god : for the Lord, whose name 
is Jealous, is a jealous God." To keep his worship pure they empha- 
sized another commandment, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any 
graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or 
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth ; 
thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." ^ Gradu- 
ally the people learned that Jehovah was Lord of the whole world, 
and that the so-called gods were unreal. They were helped to this 
belief by their long political bondage to Assyria, and especially by 
their captivity in Chaldea. Restored Jerusalem knew no god but 
Jehovah, who demanded of his worshippers moral as well as ceremo- 
nial holiness. 

Before the captivity the Hebrews lived chiefly by tilling the soil ; 
but their long stay in Babylon, the centre of Oriental trade, made of 
them a commercial people. From that time many of them travelled 
over the world and settled in foreign lands in order to carry on busi- 
ness. Wherever they went they built synagogues ; and it was in 
these houses of worship that Christianity was first proclaimed. The 
effects of the captivity were therefore far-reaching. 

The Hebrews produced no science. Their religion discouraged 
art, but fostered literature. Prominent among their writings are the 
books of the Old Testament, a national library of tradition, history, 
proverbs, songs, and prophecy, written to glorify Jehovah and to 
show the plan of his dealings with men. The New Testafnetit, com- 
posed in Greek by Hebrew writers, tells the story of Christ and his 
early followers and explains his teachings. Jo-se'phus, born 37 A.D., 
wrote /ezvis/i Antiquities, a history of his people from the creation of 
^ Exodus XX. 4 f.; xxiv. 14. 



TJie Medes ajid the Persians 31 

the world, and The Jewish War, including a detailed account of the 
siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.^ Lastly, Jewish 
rabbis composed the Tal'mud, a collection of Hebrew laws and tra- 
ditions with comments and explanations. 

Greatest among the achievements of Syria, the Phoenicians brought 
many of the ideas and arts of the Orient to Europe, and the Hebrews 
gave the Europeans their religion. 

HI. The Medes and the Persians 

26. Political History. — The story of the Syrians, just told, is an 
interruption of the political history of the Orient, for these people 
accomplished nothing remarkable in government. Let us again turn 
our attention to the great states. 

Long after Nebuchadnezzar," his city continued to be as it had been 
for a thousand years before him, the centre of Asiatic civilization. 
Its political power, on the other hand, soon declined. At his death 
the Medes ruled an empire extending westward to the Ha'lys River, 
and exercised lordship over the Persians, their near kinsmen on the 
south. But their empire was short-lived. When Cyrus the Great 
became king of Persia (553 B.C.) he threw off the Median yoke and 
soon made himself master of the entire empire. How he next sub- 
dued Lydia and the Asiatic Greeks will be told in a later chapter.^ 
As Babylon had joined Lydia in the war, he marched against the 
city and took it by surprise, while Belshazzar, the king's son, was 
feasting with "a thousand of his lords."* This easy conquest gave 
Cyrus the whole Babylonian empire. He afterward added to his 
realm territory on the north and east. 

In military genius Cyrus excelled all the earlier kings of Asia. He 
overcame his enemies by wise plans and rapid movements. A gracious 
conqueror, he treated his new subjects kindly. He spared Babylon 
and permitted the Jews to rebuild their holy city.^ In him Asiatic 

M 315- - § 16. 3 pt. n. ch. vii. § 100. * 538 B.C.; Daniel v. I. ^§24. 



32 TJie Asiatic Nations 

history takes a new and higher character. The Hamites of Egypt 
and the Semites of Chaldea and Babylonia had laid the foundations 
of civilization, and their kings had achieved great conquests. The 
Medes and Persians, however, were a branch of the more gifted 
Aryans,^ who for the future were to control the destiny of the world. 
Their rule over western Asia was due to Cyrus, who bequeathed his 
generous principles to his successors, and whom after ages remem- 
bered as a good and great king. 

Cam-by 'ses, son and successor of Cyrus, conquered Egypt. He 
was followed by Da-ri'us (522-485 B.C.), a distant kinsman, who 
gave the empire a thorough organization. He divided the whole 
area, with the exception of Persia, into twenty provinces, or sa'tra-pies, 
over which he appointed governors, termed satraps. Under the 
satraps were native rulers of cities or tribes. In addition to fixed 
gifts of produce for the support of the royal court and of the army, 
each satrapy paid a definite annual tribute of silver or gold, to 
which were added large indirect taxes and revenues from public 
property. It was necessary also for the subjects to support their 
native rulers as. well as the satraps, and in time of war to perform 
military service. Darius built excellent roads from his capital, Susa, 
to the remotest satrapies, and introduced a postal system for carrying 
official letters. The system of provinces was carried out more 
thoroughly than had been the case under Assyria, and the governors 
were held more strictly under control ; in these respects the Persian 
government was an improvement on that of Assyria. Darius was not 
only an organizer, but an able military leader. He was the first 
Asiatic king who attempted to make conquests in Europe." 

27. Civilization ; Architecture. — Like the kings of Babylon and 
of Assyria, the Persian monarchs were builders, not of temples, for 
their God required no dwelling, but of palaces and tombs. Though 
in imitation of the Chaldeans they placed their buildings on high 
platforms, they used stone rather than brick ; hence their works are 

^ § 2. 2 Ti^e story of this undertaking will be told in Pt. II. ch. vii. 



Persian Architecture 



33 



comparatively well preserved. They did not slavishly copy existing 
models, but blended the art of Egypt, Babylon, Nineveh, and Greece. 
An early example of their architecture is the tomb of the great Cyrus. 
The building is at Pa-sar'ga-dae, the seat of his clan. It is a simple 
chamber " well preserved, but open and empty, on its base of seven 
retreating stages or high steps, all of soHd blocks of white marble, 
surrounded by fragments of what was evidently a colonnade."^ 




Tomb of Cyrus 
(Pasargadae; from Fergusson) 

Here the Persians laid the body of their king, covered with wax, 
for they thought it a sin to defile the holy air or earth by cremating 
or by burying the dead. Strange as it may seem, the priests, 
uia'gi, preferred to have their own bodies exposed, to be torn by 
birds and wild beasts. 

For the foundation of his palace at Per-sep'o-lis, Darius erected 
a terraced platform of stone, mounted by beautifully sculptured 
stairways. On one part of the platform stood his dwelling, a large 
hall with a porch in front and rooms on the rear and sides. Near 

^ Ragozin, Sioiy of Media, p. 300 f. 
D 



34 The Asiatic Nations 

by is the Hall of the Hundred Columns, for state and festive occa- 
sions. On the same platform other buildings of later kings repeat 
the plans of the two just mentioned. The walls of the palaces have 
disappeared ; the pillared halls probably had none. The charac- 
teristic feature of all these buildings is the column, which in contrast 
with that of Egypt is slender and graceful, doubtless from Greek 
influence. Among the 7'eliefs are lions, bulls, and monsters like 
those of Assyria, though better proportioned. Whereas earlier 
Persian art shows the king fighting with lions, later reliefs represent 
courtly and religious formalities. Through these changes we may 
trace the decay of the Persian dynasty under the corrupting influence 
of Oriental power. In science, and in all the arts, with the exception 
of architecture, sculpture, and the cutting of gems, the Persians 
accomplished nothing great. They were not workers, but warriors 
and rulers. 

28. Religion. — The Persians worshipped one God, A-hu'ra- 
Maz'da, lord of light, revealed through his prophet, Zor-o-as' ter. 
" A great God is Ahura- Mazda ; he has created the earth, he has 
created yonder heaven, he has created man, and all pleasant things 
for man, he has made Darius king, the only king of many." ^ He 
is wise and holy; he alone has majesty and power. At his bidding 
are many angels, including Health, Immortality, and Piety. His 
eternal enemy is Ah'ri-man, the spirit of darkness, leader of a host 
of demons. Though the evil one dares contend against Ahura- 
Mazda, he has neither wisdom nor strength, he is all impure and 
false. Those who, in opposition to the prince of demons, worship 
and obey the good God, gain immortality and the reward their 
character deserves, whereas the wicked fall into the pit of the 
demons. " Images and temples and altars they do not account 
it lawful to erect, nay, they even charge with folly those who do these 
things ; and this, as it seems to me, because they do not account the 
gods to be in the likeness of men, as do the Hellenes." But it is 
^ From an inscription. 2 /_^_^ the Greeks; § 33. 



India 3 5 

Itheir wont to sacrifice to Zeus (Ahura-Mazda) going up to the loftiest 
mountains, and the whole circle of the heaven they call Zeus ; and 
they sacrifice to the Sun and the Moon and the Earth and to Fire 
and to the Winds." ^ Their holy book A-ves'ta, ascribed to Zoroaster, 
contains laws, rituals, prayers, and hymns. A considerable part of 
the work is still extant. 

29. Morals. — The moral nature as well as the religion of the 
race was admirable. Especially among Oriental nations the enjoy- 
ment of power and wealth in easy, luxurious living weakens both 
body and mind, and corrupts the character. At first brave and 
hardy, a conquering race soon degenerates and falls a prey to warlike 
neighbors. This principle goes far toward explaining the rise and fall 
of Asiatic empires. The Persians, for instance, — strong, brave moun- 
taineers, with simple habits and sound character, — easily overcame 
the decayed Babylonians and Assyrians. For a long time the con- 
querors retained their early virtues. They continued to educate 
their children " in three things only, — in riding, in shooting, and in 
speaking the truth." ^ Finally, however, they so declined that they 
were in turn subdued by a small army of invaders from Europe 
(333-330 B.c.);^ 

The greatest achievement of the Persians was to improve upon the 
political organization and the government of Assyria, and to bring 
Asia and Europe into close political relations. 

IV. The Far East — India and China 

30. India. — The Asiatic nations which we have thus far noticed 
lived near one another, and were closely connected in history. India 
and China, too, formed a group by themselves. Remote from the 
nations of the West, they influenced each. other, but had little to do 
with the rest of the civilized world. The natives of India are of 
Aryan speech, whose ancestors came to their historical home in 

^ Herodotus i. 131. ~ Herodotus i. 136. ^ §§ 192-196. 



36 The Asiatic Natio7is 

2000 .B.C., or earlier, and gradually conquered and settled the whole 
of the country which they now occupy. The Hindoos, as this nation 
is called, are imaginative and intelligent. Early in their history they 
composed the thousand songs of the Rig Ve'da, which show their life 
to have been in many respects admirable. Later they produced 
epics, and still later laws, science, and philosophy. Their classic lan- 
guage, the Sanskrit, is studied by scholars for the sake of the litera- 
ture as well as for the light it throws upon the kindred tongues of 
Europe.^ 

When they first came to India, they worshipped the powers of 
nature, as did all primitive Aryans. Their gods were nearly identi- 
cal with those, for instance, of early Greece.^ In time their beliefs 
and ceremonies became complex and philosophical. One of the 
most striking of their doctrines is the transmigration of souls. They 
believe that at the death of the body the soul always enters some 
other human being or animal that instant born. Thus passing from 
one body to another, the soul after complete growth and purification 
returns to the Universal Spirit, from which it originally came. 

While the religious system was developing, the priests were be- 
coming an hereditary class, who refused to admit laymen to their 
sacred order. Such an exclusive circle of persons we term a casie. 
Soon the kings, magistrates, and warriors made of themselves a sec- 
ond caste. The third caste was composed of common Aryans, 
whereas the natives, who were held in subjection, formed a fourth 
caste.^ 

Although the Hindoos created a brilliant civilization, they, like the 
Egyptians, became the slaves of ceremony, which controlled every 
action of their lives. The caste system, too, weighed heavily upon 
the masses, especially upon the Sudras, who in some regions formed 
the great majority of people, and yet were excluded from all social 

^ p. 3, n. I. 2 § 41 f. 

* The names of the castes in their order are (i) Brah'mans, (2) Ksha-tri'yas, 
(3) Vais'yas, (4) Su'dras. 



China 37 

and religious benefits. The aim of Buddha, born about 557 B.C., 
was to remedy this evil condition ; " and the truth which he discov- 
ered and preached to humanity was that the salvation of man lay, not 
in sacrifices and ceremonials, nor in penances, but in moral culture 
and holy life, in charity, forgiveness, and love." ^ He could not 
abolish the caste system, yet he did much to help the lower classes. 
Apostles preached his religion in China, Japan, and other Eastern 
countries. Buddhism died out in the land of its birth, but it is still 
the religion of a third of the human race. 

81. China; Ancient Civilization (to 225 B.C.). — The civiliza- 
tion of China is probably as old as that of the Hindoos. More than 
two thousand years before Christ a tribe of Turanian, or yellow, peo- 
ple invaded the country from the west, perhaps from the neighbor- 
hood of Babylon. In the course of centuries they conquered the 
natives, founded an empire, and became the nation whom we know 
as Chinese, From the earliest times they tilled the soil, raised flax, 
and made silk from the cocoon of the worms which' feed on mulberry 
leaves. The simple picture-alphabet which they probably brought 
with them into the country gradually developed into a complex sys- 
tem of writing with a letter for every word or idea. Their ancient 
literature, comprising philosophy, history, annals, poetry, and ceremo- 
nies, fills nine books of classics, a knowledge of which still constitutes 
a liberal education. In the beginning they, like the Aryans, wor- 
shipped the powers of nature ; and their empire was a loose group of 
states with divisions and subdivisions, ruled by lords of various ranks. 
But under the Chow dynasty (1122-256 B.C.) religion, morals, and 
the empire declined. " The world had fallen into decay, and right 
principles had disappeared. Perverse discourses and oppressive 
deeds waxed rife. Ministers murdered their rulers, and sons their 
fathers." - Con-fu'ci-us, who lived in this age of anarchy, attempted 
to remedy the evil by leading the people back to the good customs 

^ Dutt, Civilization of India, p. 38. 

2 From Mencius, a Chinese philosopher. 



38 TJie Asiatic Nations 

and beliefs of the ancestors. " Walk in the trodden paths " is the 
sum of his teachings. Although in his lifetime he met with little 
respect or success, reverence for him afterward increased ; Con- 
fucianism became a religion, whose author all Chinese now regard as 
the wisest and best of men. 

In his time grew up another religion or philosophy, termed 
Td'o-ism, which taught compassion, economy, and humility. 
Buddhism, introduced in the first century of our era, is the reli- 
gion of the masses, whereas scholars prefer the two native systems. 
All three forms of religion, however, are now overgrown with 
superstitions. 

32. Modem Civilization (since 225 B.C.). — In spite of Con- 
fucius, the empire continued to decline till in 225 B.C. Chi H\vang-ti, 
a man of remarkable genius, became emperor. He abolished the 
loose system of states and established a strongly centralized gov- 
ernment. On his northern frontier he built the Great Wall, sixteen 
hundred miles in length, to protect the empire from barbarians. In 
order to compel his people, especially the scholars, to break with 
traditions and adapt themselves to his new ideas, he decreed that 
all books, excepting those on medicine and agriculture, should be 
burned. Copies, however, were saved by stealth, and eventually 
the government and learning came to work in harmony. Provinces, 
divided into departments and districts, took the place of the states. 
At the head of each territorial division stood a magistrate assisted 
by officials of various grades. About the beginning of our era all 
these offices, constituting the civil service, were thrown open to 
those who passed competitive examinations in the nine classics. 
The higher the offices, the severer were the tests. As this system 
is still in force, young boys begin the study of the classics to pre- 
pare themselves for public service, and some continue their studies 
to old age. Women, on the other hand, have little intellectual 
education. 

The Chinese have shown not only capacity for learning, but also 



Summary 39 

a high degree of originality. They invented the art of printing as 
early as the sixth century a.d., and gunpowder still earlier. It is 
believed that their sailors used the compass long before it was 
known to Europeans. They excel, too, in carving ornamental and 
useful articles of wood, ivory, and horn. With their natural gifts 
it is unfortunate that they devote their minds almost exclusively to 
a dead language and literature, and to a slavish imitation of the 
past. This disposition prevents further scientific progress. Priding 
themselves on inherited wisdom, they refuse to accept the ideas and 
inventions of foreigners, and even dislike to have anything to do 
with outsiders. In these respects China of to-day resembles the 
Egypt of Rameses II. 

V. Summary of Oriental History 

The Hamites of Egypt produced the earliest civilization of the 
world. The Semites, who lived in western Asia and were nearly 
as ancient as the Hamites, made a great advance over the older 
people in the sciences, in some of the useful arts, in government, 
and political organization. By bringing Europe and Asia into com- 
mercial relations, they gave the younger continent its first lessons in 
civilization. They are especially noted for their religious character; 
it is a remarkable fact that they have produced three of the great 
religions, — Ju'da-ism, Christianity, and Mo-ham'rae-dan-ism. The 
Persians, who were of Aryan speech, improved upon the Semites 
in government, and brought Europe and Asia into close political 
relations, which proved to be an invaluable service to the younger 
continent ; for from that time to this the Europeans and their 
colonies have controlled the civilized world. 

The foremost nations of Europe in ancient times were the Greeks 
and the Romans. Ancient history has to do (i) with the Orient, 
(2) with Greece and Rome, and with the extension of their civiliz- 
ing influence over the countries of the Mediterranean Sea. 



40 TJic Asiatic Nations 



Topics for Reading 

I. Babylonia and Assyria, ( i ) Civilization. — Decoudray, Histo7y of Ancient 
Civilization, ch. iii (London, 1889); (2) Life. — Maspero, Life in Ancient Egypt 
and Assyria, chs. xi-xx; Sayce, Babylonians and Assyrians, especially chs. ii, 
iii, V (N.Y., 1899). 

II. Media and Persia. — Bury, History of Greece, ch. vi. 
III. The Hindoos. — Hunter, Brief History of the Indian Peoples, chs. ii, iii 
(Oxford, 1892). 

IV. Confucius. — Douglas, China, pp. 11-14. 

V. The Influence of the Orient on Greece. — Holm, History of Greece, i. 
ch. ix ; Bury, History of Greece, pp. 76-79. 




Valley of the Styx in Arcadlv 



PART II 
GREECE 



CHAPTER I 

THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE 

33. Mountains and Coasts. — While Egypt, Chaldea, Assyria, and 
Babylonia in succession rose and fell, a little nation in Europe was 
doing more for the improvement of the world than were all the 
great empires of the East. These people were Greeks, or as they 
called themselves, Hel-le'nes. In the beginning of their history, 
Greece, or Hel'las, was the small peninsula which extends from 
southeastern Europe into the Mediterranean Sea.^ In travelling 
through Greece or in looking at a map of it we notice that the 

M57. 
41 



42 The Country a?id the People 

country is mountainous. Ridges so high as to be almost impassable 
divide the peninsula into narrow valleys, leaving here and there a 
little plain. Life among these mountains made the Greeks hardy, 
vigorous, and brave, — ready to fight and die for home and freedom. 
And the people of each valley or narrow plain, seeing little of their 
neighbors, were content to live alone in the enjoyment of complete 
independence. In other words, the mountains prevented the growth 
of large states. 

Another striking feature of the country is its great number of 
gulfs and bays, on which the Greeks could found commercial cities. 
For this reason many of them began in the earliest times to build 
ships and send out colonies or engage in trade with foreign lands. 
The knowledge of the world which they gained in these occupations 
made them intelligent and broad minded ; they were eager to adopt 
the ideas and inventions of strangers and to improve their own homes, 
their society, and their laws. Fortunately for the Greeks, ^ r jgl^ e 
of their harbors were on the eastern than on the westefn coast ; it 
was easy, therefore, for traders from the Orient to find on the nearest 
shores places where they could land and display their useful wares 
and arts. It was from these traders that the Greeks while mere bar- 
barians received their first lessons in civilization (§ 22). 

34. Northern Greece. — Looking more carefully at the map, we 
find the peninsula divided by arms of the sea into three regions, 
northern Greece, central Greece, and Pel-o-pon-nese'. Northern 
Greece comprises two countries, — E-pei'rus and Thes'sa-ly, — sepa- 
rated by the high Pindus range. Epeirus is largely a highland 
crossed from north to south by mountain chains. The principal 
town was Do-do'na, where the Greeks believed Zeus, their supreme 
god, revealed his thoughts to men in the rustling of the oak leaves. 
A shrine of this sort, at which inquirers may in any way learn the 
will of a god, is called an oracle ; and the same word is used to 
signify the god's utterance. 

Unlike Epeirus, Thessaly is a plain, the largest in Greece, nearly 



Central Greece 43 

surrounded by mountains. On the north the Cam-bu'ni-an range 
rises like a huge wall to defend Greece against the attack of 
foreigners. This chain reaches its height in Mount 0-lym'pus, 
near the sea, the loftiest peak on the peninsula. The Greeks im- 
agined it the abode of Zeus and of the other great gods. Near 
Olympus, in the range which extends along the east coast of 
Thessaly, is Mount Os'sa. Homer, an early poet of Greece, tells 
us that the two tallest men on earth once " threatened to raise 
even against the mortals in Olympus the din of stormy war. They 
strove to pile Ossa on Olympus, and on Ossa Pe'li-on, with the 
trembling forest leaves, that there might be a pathway to the sky." ^ 
Between Olympus and Ossa is the beautiful Vale of Tem'pe, rich 
in foliage, the main pass into Greece from the country on the 
north. Through this valley flows the Pe-nei'us River, which drains 
the great inland plain. 

In ancient times the basin of the Peneius furnished excellent 
pasturage ; the great lords of the country accordingly reared herds 
of horses, that they might be able in war to lead hundreds of 
mounted servants to battle. In southeastern Thessaly, nearly sur- 
rounded by land, is the Pa-ga-sae'an Gulf, on which stood the ancient 
trading city of I-ol'cos, famed in myth. In course of time greater 
cities grew up in the plain ; but both E-pei'rots and Thessalians pre- 
ferred country life ; they had little trade or skilled industry ; in 
education and in the refinements of life they lagged behind the 
commercial states of Greece. 

35. Central Greece ; the Less Civilized Countries. — South of 
Thessaly and Epeirus is central Greece, a long narrow region extend- 
ing east and west. It is more mountainous than northern Greece, 
and is well supplied with harbors along the immense stretch of coast. 
This district comprises seven or eight small countries. Ae-to'Ii-a 
and Lo'cris are especially rugged lands whose inhabitants long 
remained barbarous. After the commercial cities of eastern and 
^ Otos and Ephialtes; Odyssey, xi. 307 ff. 



44 The Country and the People 

southern Greece had reached the height of their civiHzation, the 
Aetohans and Locrians still carried weapons in their daily life, as now 
do the American Indians ; they fought continually among them- 
selves, and robbed or murdered all whom they found weak or 
defenceless. Some of them spoke a language strange to the 
other Greeks and ate raw meat. They continued in this low con- 
dition till civilized men visited them and gave them better ideas 
of life. West of Aetplia is A-car-na' iii-a, a land of lakes and har- 
bors, but with high, steep shores. The colonists who came hither 
in early time from the eastern coast taught the natives useful arts. 
Hence this country made greater progress in civilization than did 
Aetoha or Locris. Pho'cis, which divides Locris into two sections, 
lies partly in the valley of the Ce-phis'sus River, and partly in the 
rugged district about Mount Par-nas'sus. Below the mountain on 
the south, in the city of Del'phi, was the celebrated oracle of Apollo. 

The Phocians, too, were more civilized than the Aetolians or the 
Locrians. In the valleys and plains were thrifty lords and busy 
peasant's ; on the mountain sides the shepherd pastured his flocks. 
Others engaged in commerce. Cri'sa, not far from a gulf of the 
same name, was a prosperous trading city till it was destroyed about 
590 B.C. 

36. The More Civilized Countries. — Boe-o'ti-a, east of Phocis, has 
two important streams, — the Ae-so'pus and the Cephissus. The 
former empties into the sea ; the latter into Lake Co-pa'is, which 
has no outlet. The land about the lake is flat and very productive ; 
its moisture fills the air with fog. Some witty neighbors of the Boeo- 
tians remarked that the dull sky and excessive beef-eating made 
these people stupid ; but in fact they were second in intelligence 
and in enterprise among the states of central Greece. Long before 
the dawn of history Or-chom'e-nus was a wealthy, thriving city ; 
later Thebes became the capital of all Boeotia. Several other cities 
are famous in history. 

Mount Ci-thae'ron separates Boeotia from At'ti-ca, a peninsula 



Pelopomiese 45 

which forms the eastern end of central Greece. In the northeast 
of Attica, overlooking the Plain of Mar'a-thon, is Mount Pen-tel'i- 
cus, full of brilliant white marble ; and south of Pentelicus is the 
range of Hy-met'tus, still renowned for its honey-bees. The central 
region is a plain about two small streams, — ■ the Cephissus and the 
I-lis'sus, which unite before reaching the sea. A third plain lies 
round the city of E-leu'sis on the northwest coast. Attica is for the 
most part a rugged country, whose thin soil, fit only for grazing, 
compelled her people to make the best of the Httle they had. But 
the air is remarkably clear and the landscapes are beautiful, tempt- 
ing the imagination. All the Greeks indeed were near the sea, but 
Attica was especially favored by a long coast-line which invited to 
commerce. These surroundings helped make the people enterpris- 
ing and intelHgent, refined their tastes, and awakened in them a love 
for the beautiful. Athens, the capital, became in time the foremost 
city of the world in civilization. 

The traveller who journeys b> land from Athens to Peloponnese 
passes through Meg'a-ris, a httle country which lies in the broader 
part of the Isthmus of Corinth. As the soil is even more barren than 
that of Attica, the people supported themselves by rearing sheep 
and by making coarse woollens and heavy pottery for exportatioij. 
With a harbor on each side of the Isthmus they were well equipped 
for commerce ; and their leading city, Megara, might have become a 
great centre of trade, had she not been overshadowed by powerful 
neighbors. 

37. Peloponnese ; the Less Civilized Countries. — Peloponnese — 
"Isle of Pe'lops," a mythical hero — is a massive peninsula with a 
great gulf on the east coast and two on the south. The central 
region is Ar-ca'di-a, " the Switzerland of Greece," a plateau above 
which tower lofty mountain ranges. Among the mountains are 
fruitful plains and valleys, each of which was the domain of a tribe 
or a city. The Arcadians lived in the simple, homely style of 
mountaineers. Master and slaves ate their pork and barley cake 



46 



The Country and the People 



together, and mixed their wine in a common bowl. Hardy and 
warlike, the Arcadian freemen were equally ready to fight for their 
homes and to serve foreign states for pay. 

The northern slope of the plateau, with a narrow border of coast 
plain, is A-chae'a. Divided among twelve independent cities, this 
country remained unimportant till late in history.^ E'hs comprises the 
western slope and the broad rich plain along the coast. Its most 
notable city is 0-lym'pi-a, where the Greeks celebrated the greatest 
of their national festivals, and athletes from all Hellas contended in 
the games. The site is now strewn with the ruins of temples (§ 69). 
38. The More Civilized Countries. — Corinth, near the Isthmus, 

was one of the greatest com- 
mercial cities of Hellas. Her 
lofty citadel commanded the 
Isthmus, and by means of her 
three harbors, two on the Sa- 
ron'ic Gulf and one on the 
Corinthian, she could trade 
equally well with the East and 
with the West. Though she 
had a large navy, her narrow 
territory prevented her from 
becoming a great power. 
Ar'go-lis is chiefly t'ne moun- 
tainous peninsula on the east 
of Peloponnese ; to it be- 
longed also in early time a 
strip of coast land extending 
southward to Cape Ma'le-a. 
The chief cities were along the valley which reaches northward from 
the head of the Ar-gol'ic Gulf. Tir'yns, near the gulf, is the oldest 
city, so far as we know, on the continent of Europe. My-ce'nae, 

1 § 201. 



Nj^yS 


_. 


»'# "'^fl^l 


^^ 


— ^'^I^H 


Kf 


^ ^W^ 


(^J^ 


' '' ■'^M 


Hlnil 


ftStJOrt" 


39Ph^^| 



Gallery ix the Wall of Tiryns 



Climate and Products 47 

farther from the gulf, outgrew Tiryns and became the head of a great 
state. Like the older city, it has been for ages in ruins. Even 
before the dawn of history it had declined, and Argos had taken its 
place as the head of Argolis. 

The great rival of Argos was Sparta, chief city of La-co'nt-a. In 
the beginning this country occupied the fertile basin of the Eu-ro'tas 
River, between the ranges of Ta-yg'e-tus and Par'non ; later the 
coast land east of Mount Parnon was added to it.^ The people 
of the country were the first in the world to have a well-equipped 
and well-disciplined army. In time of danger, therefore, all the 
Hellenes looked to them for protection. Sparta,^ " low-lying among 
the caverned hills," was but a group of villages. Unhke most 
Greek cities, it was wholly without fortifications ; the ranks of 
brave warriors were its walls. 

West of Mount Taygetus is the hilly but fruitful country of Mes- 
se'ni-a. Near the centre of this country is Mount I-tho'me, whose 
summit furnished an excellent site for a fortress. 

39. Climate and Products ; Summary. — The greatest length of 
the Greek peninsula is about two hundred and fifty miles, and its 
greatest breadth is a hundred and eighty ; it is smaller than Scot- 
land and about the size of the state of Maine. And yet within these 
narrow limits the climate, ranging from temperate to semi-tropical, 
fosters a great variety of products. In the forests of the north are 
nearly all kinds of European trees; southern Thessaly produces 
rice and cotton ; olives flourish in Attica ; and in Peloponnese 
lemons, oranges, and date-palms thrive. Though wheat grows in 
the few fertile lowlands, most of the ground is too stony and sterile 
for anything but pasturage, or at best for the growth of barley. But 
the poor soil compelled the Greeks to form moderate habits of life ; 
the mild climate and gentle changes of season rendered them 
happy ; the bracing air stimulated thought ; and the bare, sharply 
pointed mountains, while repelling the senses, — which call for richness 
^ § 93- ^ Sparta is the name of the city, Lacedaemon of the state. 



48 



The Country ajid the People 



of grass and foliage, — awakened in the soul that love of intellectual 
beauty which lifts the Greeks above all other people. Finally the 
diversity of cHmate, soil, and products combined with other favoring 
influences to create a nation famous for its men of genius in litera- 
ture, science, art, and statesmanship. 

Topic for Reading 

The Influence of Geography on the Character of the Greeks. — Curtius, 
History of Greece, Bk. i. ch. i; Holm, History of Greece, i. ch. i; Oman, History 
of Greece^ ch. i. 




So-called Treasury of Atreus 
(Mycenae ; in reality the tomb of a prehistoric king of Mycenae) 




Royal Tombs at Mycenae 



CHAPTER II 



THE PREHISTORIC AGE (to 700 B.C.) — RELIGION AND MYTH 



40. Future Life. - — When in the earhest times the Greeks began 
to think about themselves, they tried to explain sleep and death. 
While a man was resting in slumber they supposed his second self, a 
shadowy form of the body, was attending to its routine duties or 
perhaps experiencing strange adventures in dream life. To them 
death was an eternal sleep. The body decayed ; but the second 
self, or soul, abiding in the grave, ate, drank, and used the tools or 
enjoyed the luxuries which had been his in life. As he expected his 
living kinsmen to supply him with food and drink, he severely pun- 
ished those who neglected this duty, but protected and blessed all 
his relatives who at proper times and with fitting ceremonies brought " 
him the customary offerings. For these reasons the Greeks contin- 
E 49 



50 TJie Prehistoric Age 

ued to sacrifice to the dead even until the introduction of Christianity. 
The kings of the early Greek cities, as Mycenae and Orchomenus, 
built for themselves magnificent tombs, some of which are still stand- 
ing. Here they were buried with a vast quantity of jewels and golden 
ornaments, with golden masks on their faces and diadems on their 
heads, with swords, vases, and little idols. Some of their slaves 
were buried with them to serve them in the world of the dead. 

In course of time the Greeks began to imagine a place — the 
realm of the god Ha'des — beneath the earth, whither all souls went 
after leaving the body, there to pass a joyless, dreamlike eternity. 
Cha'ron, the divine boatman, ferried the souls across the Styx 
River to the home of the dead, where Cer'be-rus, a three-headed 
dog, keeping watch at the gate, allowed all to enter but none to de- 
part. Still later the idea of a judgment arose ; three judges of the 
souls below distributed rewards and punishments according to the 
deeds done in the body. 

But the dark realm of Hades did not long remain the only abode 
of souls. A world of future happiness gradually dawned upon the 
mind of the Greeks. This was E-lys'i-um, " at the end of the earth, 
where life is easiest for men. No snow is there, nor yet great storm, 
nor any rain ; but always ocean sendeth forth the breeze of the 
shrill west to blow cool on men." ^ The early Greeks imagined that 
a few heroes only, the especial favorites of the gods, came while still 
living to this home of the i)lest, but in time the idea arose that it was 
open to the souls of all the good. ■ 

41 . The Gods. — In the childhood of their race the Greeks were 
thinking not only about themselves, but about the world in which 
they lived. They imagined that all moving and growing objects 
were living persons with souls like their own. The spirits of those 
objects which were great or strong enough to help or to injure them 
they thought of as gods, whose favor they ought to win by prayer 
and sacrifice. At first they thought of a few only of these deities as 

^ Homer, Odyssey, iv. 563 ff. Compare the religion of the Egyptians, § il. 



TJlc Gods 51 

possessing human form and human character. Such a god was sup- 
posed to live in his appropriate object as a man lives in a house. 
But in time they came to believe that all deities were like men, 
that they differed from human beings simply in their greater stature 
and strength and in their immortality. Homer sometimes represents 
a god as wounded by a man in battle. In his belief heaven was 
very near to earth. " Yea, and the gods in the likeness of strangers 
from far countries put on all manner of shapes, and wander through 
the cities, beholding the violence and the righteousness of men."^ 
As the gods were only magnified men, they had both good and evil 
qualities ; and the influences of religion were both moral and immoral. 
42. The Twelve Gods of Olympus. — The greatest deity was 
Zeus, ''father of gods and men." After dethroning his father Cron'os 
and putting down all opposition, he reigned supreme over the whole 
world. Bestowing the ocean as a kingdom upon his brother Po-sei'- 
don, and the region beneath the earth upon Hades, another brother, 
he retained the sky and earth for his own dominion. On the top of 
snow-capped Olympus he dwelt with his brothers, sisters, and chil- 
dren. Twelve with himself made up the great Olympic council. 
It included — 

Zeus, father of gods and men. He'ra, wife of Zeus, guardian of women 

Poseidon, god of the sea. and of marriage. 

A'res, god of war. Pal'las A-the'na, who sprang full grown 

A-pol'lo, the ideal of manly beauty, and clad in armor from the head of 

god of light, of the bow and arrows, Zeus, patron of war, peace, and wis- 

of music and medicine. dom, especially of skilled labor. 

Her'mes, messenger of the gods and Aph-ro-di'te, goddess of love and 

patron of commerce. beauty. 

He-phaes'tus, god of fire and of the Ar'te-mis, goddess of the chase, a mod- 
forge, est maiden, who protected girls. 

Hes'ti-a, goddess of the family hearth 

and dwelling. 
De-me'ter, patroness of agriculture and 
of civilization. 

1 Odyssey, xvii. 485 ff. 



52 TJie PrcJiistoric Age 

Many lesser gods attended upon these great divinities ; many, too, 
inhabited the earth, sea, and air and had no access to Olympus. 

43. The Men before the Flood. — For a time the gods alone 
existed ; and when men came into being they lived a happy life free 
from all care and pain till curiosity prompted Pan-do'ra, a fair 
woman, to uncover a box which contained sorrow, pain, diseases, 
vice, and all manner of mischiefs. These evils flew abroad among 
men to plague them forever. 

Gradually the human race became so wicked that Zeus resolved to 
destroy it by di flood. Accordingly he caused the rain to pour down 
till the waters covered the whole earth excepting the peaks of the 
highest mountains. One man alone, Deu-ca'li-on by name, warned 
by his father Pro-me'theus, — "Forethought," — took refuge with 
Pyr'rha, his wife, in an ark. After floating nine days over the water, 
the ark rested on the summit of Mount Parnassus. Then, when the 
flood had receded, Deucalion and Pyrrha stepped forth upon dry 
land. In their loneliness they cried out to Zeus for companions ; 
and the great god in pity sent Hermes to tell them they should cast 
behind them the bones of their mother. Rightly guessing the mean- 
ing of this strange command, they threw stones behind them ; and 
those which Deucalion threw became men, whereas women sprang 
forth from those cast by his wife. 

44. The Four Hellenic Races. — Deucalion and Pyrrha then went 
to Thessaly, where they had two sons, Hellen and Am-phic'ty-on. 
Hellen became the father of Ae'o-lus, Do'rus, and Xu'thus. To the 
last named were born A-chae'us and I'on. Aeolus, Dorus, Achaeus, 
and Ion became kings — doubtless in the earhest form of the myth, 
fathers — of the four Hellenic races : Ae-o'li-ans, Dorians, Achaeans, 
and lonians. From their home in Thessaly and Boeotia the Aeolians 
colonized Lesbos and the adjacent coast of Asia Minor. From 
Attica, " the most ancient Ionian land," colonists occupied the cen- 
tral Aegean islands, and that part of the coast of Asia Minor after- 
ward named Ionia. The Dorians, after migrating from Thessaly to 



Heroes of Argolis 



53 



Doris in central Greece, and thence to Peloponnese, there founded 
three great states, — Argolis, Laconia, and Messenia. From Pelo- 
ponnese some of them occupied the islands and east coast of the 
Aegean Sea, south of the lonians. The Achaeans at first inhabited 
a large part of Peloponnese, but were afterward crowded by the 
Dorian invaders into the narrow strip of coast land known as Achaea. 
Such was in fact the location of these four great races as early as 

lOOO B.C. 

45. The Heroes of Argolis. — The Greeks as easily invented myths 
to explain the origin and early growth of their cities. They imag- 
ined that, in time long past, heroes, the sons or near descendants 
of the gods, lived on earth. Taller, stronger, and braver than men, 
the heroes protected their communities from savage beasts and rob- 
bers, and performed great deeds in war. Some of them founded 
cities, or became the ancestors of tribes or nations. Though all the 
races, tribes, cities, and villages 
had their heroes, we shall no- 
tice a few only of those that be- 
came of national importance. 

Ae-gyp'tus and Da^na-us 
were brothers born in the Nile 
Valley. The former had fifty 
sons, the latter as many daugh- 
ters. To avoid giving his 
daughters in marriage to their 
cousins, Danaus fled with his 
dear ones across the sea to Ar- 
gos. After becoming king of 
the city he made the whole 
country fruitful by irrigation. 
Probably his daughters represent the springs of Argolis, and his own 
close kinship with Aegyptus was invented to show how the Hellenes 
got much of their civilization from Aegypt. 




PkIvSEUS cutting utf Medusa's Head 
(A Metope from Selinus ; about 600 B.C.) 



54 



TJte Prehistoric Age 



Froe'tus, great-grandson of Danaus, founded Tiryns ; and Cy- 
clo'pes, one-eyed giants from Lycia, surrounded it with huge walls. 

This mighty king gained 
control of the country as 
far as Corinth. Fer'setts, 
another descendant of 
Danaus, was a strong, 
brave hero. In his day 
lived the Gor'gons, mon- 
strous women whose heads 
were covered with writhing 
snakes instead of hair. Any 
one who dared look a Gor- 
gon in the face was in- 
stantly changed to stone. 
Commanded to kill Me- 
du'sa, the most frightful of 
these monsters, Perseus 
found her after great toil 
and careful searching, and 
cut off her head. Though 
he met with many other dangers, his strength and courage overcame 
them all. Becoming king of Tiryns, he founded Mycenae, a much 
larger city, on a hill between two overhanging mountains. It remained 
the chief city of Peloponnese till Argos came to surpass it in power. 

Alc-me'ne, a granddaughter of Perseus, while she was in exile at 
Thebes bore to Zeus a son named Her'a-cles, who became the 
greatest of heroes. Though Zeus had planned that this beloved son 
should rule over all his neighbors, jealous Hera compelled him to 
pass a toilsome Hfe in fighting monsters at the bidding of his cow- 
ardly cousin Eu-rys'theus, king of Mycenae. Twelve great labors 
this weak master commanded him to perform, all of them full of 
danger and calling for the strength of a giant. In his search for the 




A Warrior of Mycenae 



Dorian Migration 55 

monsters to be slain he had to wander over nearly the whole world 
of the ancients ; he even descended to the home of the dead to 
bring forth the watch-dog Cerberus. But when he had ended his 
career of glorious toil, Zeus called him up to Olympus to dwell for- 
ever in joy among the deathless gods. In this way virtue received 
its reward. 

46. The Return of the Heracleidae ; Lycurgus. — For three genera- 
tions the Her-a-clei'dae — descendants of Heracles — remained in 
exile, deprived of their inherited right to the throne of Argos. Then 
it came about that the Dorians, who at that time dwelt in Doris, a 
mountainous little country in central Greece, chose the hero's great- 
grandsons, Tem'e-nus, Cres-phon'tes, and Ar-is-to-de'mus, to lead 
them in an invasion of Peloponnese. In a single battle they con- 
quered the whole peninsula. Elis they gave to their Aetolian guide ; 
Temenus received Argos as his kingdom ; Cresphontes was given 
fertile Messenia ; and as Aristodemus had died on the way, his twin 
sons, Eu-rys'the-nes and Pro'cles, became the first kings of Laconia. 
For this reason Laconia always had two kings, one from -the family of 
Eurysthenes, the other from that of Procles. Thus were founded in 
Peloponnese three great Dorian states, each ruled by Heracleid 
kings. 

Argos gained in prosperity ; but Sparta, chief city of Laconia, was 
full of confusion and lawlessness, till Ly-cur'gus, a member of one of 
the royal families, came to have charge of affairs. By establishing 
good laws and a severe military training for all the Spartans, he not 
only reduced the state to order but made it the most powerful in 
Greece. Accordingly, when he died, his fellow-citizens built a 
temple in which they continued to worship him as a god. 

47. The Heroes of Thebes. — Among the mythical heroes of 
Thebes, another great city of Greece, was Cad'mus, — by birth a 
Phoenician, who wandered westward in search of his sister Eu-ro'pa, 
whom Zeus had stolen away. At the command of Apollo he gave up 
the search, and following a cow into Boeotia, he founded the city of 



56 TJie Pjt historic Age 

Thebes on an elevated spot where she lay down. First, however, he 
sowed the ground with dragon's teeth, from which armed men 
sprang forth. They fought and killed one another till but five were 
left ; these became the heads of the five noble families of Thebes. 
Some generations later a curse of the gods drove the descendants of 
Cadmus to commit a fearful sin which well-nigh ruined the family. 
Oed'i-pus unwittingly married his mother, queen Jo-cas'ta. When 
she discovered who her husband was, the miserable queen hanged 
herself; and king Oedipus, after tearing out both his eyes, was 
forced into exile by his unfeeling subjects. In working out further 
the purpose of the wrathful gods, his sons E-te'o-cles and Pol-y-nei'- 
ces, remaining in the city, quarrelled violently. Polyneices, driven 
into exile, took refuge with A-dras'tus, king of Argos, who called the 
mightiest heroes of his country to aid in restoring the fugitive. 
Seven chiefs with their followers appeared before Thebes, "seven 
leaders against seven gates arrayed, equal against equal foes."^ 
From the citadel the inhabitants saw about the walls nothing but 
gleaming shields and spears, nothing they heard but the shouts of 
foes and the clanging of arms. Already the foremost assailant stood 
on the walls ready to shout victory, when Zeus with a thunderbolt 
dashed him down. The two brothers killed each other in single com- 
bat. The wave of war rolled back, and Thebes was free to celebrate 
her deliverance in dances and in thank-offerings to the gods. Ten 
years afterward the sons of the Seven led another army against 
Thebes, and after taking it, placed the son of Polyneices upon the 
throne. 

48. The Heroes of Athens. — Athens, too, had her heroes. Ce^ crops, 
half man, half serpent, a monster born of the soil, was the founder 
and first king of the city on the A-crop'o-lis. This was a high, steep 
hill about four miles from the coast." He named the settlement 

1 Sophocles, Aniigone. 

2 An acropolis is a fortified hilltop. The most famous acropolis in Greece is 
that at Athens. 



Theseus 



57 



Cecropia, after himself; and he built eleven other cities in Attica, 
gathering the people within the walls to protect them from pirates 
and from the hostile Boeotians. In his reign Athena and Poseidon 
strove for the possession of Cecropia ; and as the goddess won the 
contest, she called the city Athens and the people Athenians, after 
her own name. Abiding henceforth on the Acropolis, she remained 
the chief deity and guardian of the state. 

These events took place before the flood. Afterward E-rech'theus 
became king. He was a second Cecrops, wholly a serpent whom 
the bounteous earth produced, and whom, when young, Athena cared 
for in her beautiful shrine. Thenceforth the Athenians worshipped 
him along with Athena in the E-rech-thei'um, the most ancient of 
their temples. 

Many years afterward lived The' sens, a descendant of Erechtheus. 
He was an athlete second only to Heracles in strength and valor. 
In his youth he won fame by 
killing robbers and monsters. 
Up to his time the Athenians 
had been paying a tribute of 
human beings to King Mi'nos 
of Crete, who wielded a great 
naval power.^ Every nine years 
they sent him seven youths and 
seven maidens as a sacrifice to 
Min'o-taur, a monstrous bull 
kept in the Lab'y-rinth. The- 
seus, however, accompanied 
one of these gloomy embassies 
to Cnos'sus in Crete ; and after 
killing the monster,, escaped from the intricate windings of the Laby- 
rinth by following a thread given him by A-ri-ad'ne, daughter of 
Minos. When, after his return to Athens, he became king of the 

1 § 22. 




" Theseus " 
(From the east pediment of the Parthenon) 



58 The PrcJiistoric Age 

city, he planned the union of all the towns of Attica in one great 
state. Going about the country, he persuaded the people to give up 
the independence of their towns that all might become citizens of 
Athens. They continued to live on their farms or in their towns and 
villages, but all learned to look upon Athens as their only city, the 
seat of their government. 

49. The Voyage of the Argonauts. — Sometimes heroes from sev- 
eral cities joined in national undertakings. Such an expedition was 
the voyage of the Ar'go-nauts in search of the golden fleece. Ja'son, 
heir to the throne of lolcos in Thessaly, grew up in exile in a cave 
on Mount Pelion. There a wise Cen'taur^ cared for him and taught 
him medicine. But at the age of twenty he returned to lolcos to 
demand his rights of the reigning king, Pelias, his father's step- 
brother. The deceitful ruler promised everything, if Jason would 
but bring from Col'chis the golden fleece of a ram which years 
before had carried off two children of the royal household ; for with 
the return of the fleece the gods, he thought, would allay a pestilence 
then raging among the people. In answer to Jason's call heroes 
from all Greece gathered to man the Argo for a voyage to Colchis. 
Fifty Argonauts — sailors of the Argo — struck the water with their 
oars, " and in their rapid hands the rowing sped untiringly." - Many 
troubles they had with the natives of the coasts along which they 
steered their way. 

When the heroes reached Colchis, Ae-e'tes, king of the country, 
promised them the golden fleece if Jason should plough a piece of 
land with fire-breathing bulls and sow it with dragons' teeth. The 
king's daughter Me-dei'a, a sorceress, showed the hero how to do 
these deeds without harm to himself; and as the king failed to keep 
his word, she helped the stranger steal the fleece from the cave 
where it hung, and followed him aboard the ship to become his wife. 
On their way home the Argonauts wandered far and wide over the 

^ A Centaur was an imaginary being with the head and arms of a man and the 
body and feet of a horse. - Pindar, Pythian Ode, iv. 



The Trojan War 59 

waters of the earth. This mythical voyage furnished the Greeks 
with subjects for songs and dramas.^ 

50. The Trojan War. — The most famous of heroic undertakings 
was the Trojan War. Helen, the wife of Men-e-la'us, king of Lace- 
daemon, was the fairest and most accomplished woman in Hellas. 
Most of the Grecian kings had sued for her hand ; but when Mene- 
laiis won the prize, they bound themselves to uphold his right to her. 
Now it chanced that Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, paid a visit to 
Menelaiis, and taking advantage of his host's confidence, he per- 
suaded Helen to desert her husband and go with him to Troy. As 
Priam refused to give her up, the kings of Hellas, true to their oaths, 
joined Menelaiis in an attempt to recover her by force. In the har- 
bor of Au'Hs, on the Boeotian coast, gathered their ships — nearly 
twelve hundred in number. Ag-a-mem'non, king of Argos or 
Mycenae and brother of Menelaiis, was leader. 

They landed near Troy, and nine years they besieged the city and 
harried the country and villages. Then A-chil'les, the most valiant 
hero in the army, and most dreaded by the enemy, quarrelled with 
Agamemnon over a captive maiden. The Greeks had assigned her 
to Achilles in his share of the spoil from a captured town, but 
Agamemnon had unjustly taken her from him. Withdrawing in 
anger to his tent, the impetuous youth refused to engage further in 
the war. Thereupon Zeus, as a favor to the mother of Achilles, gave 
victory to the besieged and sent countless woes upon the Greeks 
till Agamemnon was ready to acknowledge the wrong he had done 
and make ample amends for it. It was no gift, however, which 
induced Achilles to resume his part in the war, but the death of his 
dear companion Patroclus at the hands of Hector, the greatest of 
Trojan heroes. Eagerly Achilles put on the armor forged for him by 
Hephaestus, and mounted his chariot drawn by fierce steeds. His 
teeth gnashed in rage at the Trojans, his eyes blazed like fire, and 
the gleam of his shield reached the sky. He drove the host of Troy 
^ For instance, Pindar's Fourth Pythian Ode and Euripides' Medeia. 



6o 



TJie Prehistoric Age 



before him like sheep, and many a renowned hero he slew with his 
own hand. Three times round the city he pursued the noble Hector 
as a dog chases a fawn. At last he killed the hero of Troy without 
mercy ; the Greeks mutilated the body, and pitiless Achilles dragged 
it at his chariot wheels. 

Some time afterward Achilles was himself slain; but crafty 
O-dys'seus, king of Ith'a-ca, contrived a plan of taking Troy by 
stratagem. He had the Greeks build a large wooden horse, in 
which they concealed a hundred brave heroes. Then Sinon, desert- 
ing to the Trojans, persuaded them to bring the horse into the city, 

pretending that this offering to 
Athena would give them domin- 
ion over the Greeks. In the 
night, after the horse had been 
dragged within the walls, the 
heroes left their hiding and 
opened the city gates to their 
friends outside. The Greeks 
then burned and sacked the 
city ; they killed the men and 
took captive the women and 
children. 

51. The Return from Troy. 
— The destruction of Troy did 
not end the woes of the Greeks. 
On their homeward way they 
met with many hardships, some 
even with death. Agamemnon 
reached home in safety, to be 
murdered by his queen Cly-tem- 
nes'tra, aided by the husband she had taken in the absence of the 
king. Odysseus, on the other hand, wandered far and wide, after he 
had sacked the citadel of Troy. Driven hither and thither over the 




Ideal Statue of Homer 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



TJie Io7iians 6i 

sea by angry Poseidon, he saw many interesting countries and peo- 
ples, he underwent severe toils, and met with strange adventures. 
Reaching home at last, he slew the company of nobles, who, while 
suing for the hand of his faithful wife Pe-nel'o-pe, had long been 
living at his house and wasting his property. 

52. Homer. — Most of the story of the siege of Troy is told in the 
li'i-ad, — a long, narrative poem intended for recitation. Such a 
poem is called an epic. The Od'ys-sey, another epic, narrates the 
wanderings and return of the hero Odysseus. These stories are sim- 
ple, graceful, and interesting.^ Myth declares the author to have 
been Homer, a blind old poet, who wandered about from city to city 
chanting his beautiful verses to eager listeners. So great was his rep- 
utation that seven cities boasted of being his birthplace. Although 
some still assert that the author was a person named Homer, the 
best scholars now agree that the Iliad and the Odyssey are the work 
of several Aeolian and Ionian poets who lived in the period from 
looo to 700 B.C., and that the Iliad is the older by about a century. 

These poems tell us much of the life and character of the lonians 
of that age. Although " Homer's " stories are myths, the manners 
and customs he describes are those of his own time and country. 

53. Social Life of the lonians (1000-700 B.C.). — Among the 
lonians of Homer's time, family and kin were sacred, and under the 
care of " household " Zeus, whose altar was the hearth. Parent and 
child, brothers and cousins, united by the twofold bond of blood and 
religion, stood by one another in danger, for the state had not yet 
begun to protect the lives of the citizens. Zeus commanded men to 
be kind to wayfarers. A common form of welcome was — "Hail 
stranger, with us thou shalt be kindly entertained, and thereafter, 
when thou hast tasted meat, thou shalt tell us that whereof thou hast 
need."" Hospitality, love of kindred, freedom of women, and the 

^ Lang, Leaf, and Myers' Iliad, Butcher and Lang's Odyssey, and Palmer's 
Odyssey are simple translation into English prose. 
- Homer, Odyssey, i. 123 f. 



62 The Prehistoric Age 

gentle manners of home and of social life were the most admirable 
features of an age whose darker side appears in time of war. For 
then men sacked and burned cities, killed the warriors whom they 
captured, and enslaved the women and children. Piracy was re- 
spectable; the weak and homeless had no protection. 

54. Property and Labor. — In time of peace the lords of the land 
kept their servants busy in the country planting orchards and vine- 
yards, raising barley, or tending the herds, from which they drew 
most of their living. As there were few skilled workmen, they had 
to make at home nearly everything they needed in their daily life. 
Kings and queens worked along with their slaves. As there was yet 
no money, they bartered their produce, and reckoned values in cattle 
or in pounds of bronze, iron, or other metal. Although Phoenician 
traders supplied the rich with costly wares from the East, the lonians 
were themselves building ships and beginning a trade which was soon 
to drive the vessels of Phoenicia from Greek waters (§ 22). 

55. Government. — While the common people were working in the 
fields or were building walls, houses, and ships, the nobles lived in 
the city in the enjoyment of wealth and authority. The greater 
lords met in a council to advise and assist the king in all public busi- 
ness, and to provide for the interests of their class. The king, who 
was merely the first among the nobles, was general, priest, and judge. 
He led the army, prayed to the gods for the city's safety, and settled 
cases of private law. He did not try, however, to keep the peace or 
prevent murder, but allowed the families of his state to fight one 
another as much as they pleased. His power was by no means abso- 
lute, for not only did he respect the wishes of the council, but he 
brought all his important plans before the gathering of freemen. This 
assembly did not vote ; the people merely shouted assent or showed 
disapproval by silence. They exercised far less influence on the 
king than did his noble advisers. In fact the council could some- 
times carry on the government without either the king or the assem- 
bly, and it began to do so at Athens and in the other Ionian states 




The Gate of the Lions at Mycenae 



Value of the Myths 63 

about the middle of the eighth century B.C. It did not abolish these 
institutions, but it degraded the office of king to a mere priesthood, 
and rarely called the assembly together. In this manner the govern- 
ment ceased to be a monarchy, or rule of one, and became an 
aristocracy, or rule of "the best," — that is, of the nobles. 

56. Value of the Myths ; the Prehistoric Age. — On the site of 
ancient Troy explorers have unearthed nine settlements belonging to 
as many different periods of history. The next to the oldest had 
been destroyed by burning, — probably long before the Greeks visited 
that region. But the Grecian colonists in Asia Minor must have waged 
many wars with the natives ; and perhaps the memory of these con- 
flicts, attaching itself to the burned city, gave rise to the story of the 
Trojan War. Other myths may have had a similar origin. Some of 
these tales may be partly true ; but no one has yet found a satisfac- 
tory method of separating the facts from the fiction. 

Although the myths are therefore of little direct service to history, 
they are valuable in showing how the Greeks regarded the distant 
past, and they form the groundwork of religion, literature, and art. 

This remote period, concerning which the Greeks possessed abun- 
dant myths, but httle or no real knowledge, we call prehistoric be- 
cause the people of the time handed down no written history of 
themselves. It is clear that when they first came into the peninsula 
they were barbarous. From the fact that they were then grouped in 
tribes but as yet knew nothing of cities, this stage of their progress is 
called the tribal age. In course of time some of them, stimulated 
by the Orient, built cities and became civiHzed. This second stage 
is called the Mycenaean age, after Mycenae, the most famous city of 
the time. Our knowledge of the civilization of this age comes 
almost wholly from excavations. The epic age follows the Mycenaean, 
and is represented by the poems of Homer. These three ages 
make up the prehistoric period. From the works of their hands 
which still exist at Cnossus, Mycenae, Athens, and other ancient cities, 
as well as from the poetry of Homer composed in that far-off time. 



64 The Prehistoric Age 

we may learn how the Greeks lived, but of individual persons and 
events of the age we know nothing. About the year 700 B.C. some 
cities began to keep lists of magistrates, and soon afterward to record 




Vessels and Idols from Mycenae 

their laws. Though written material useful to the historian then be- 
gan to accumulate, no one attempted to compose history till two 
centuries later. Nevertheless we may feel justified in saying that 
the historic age of Greece begins about 700 B.C. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Worship of the Dead. — Fustel de Coulanges, Ancient City, chs. i, ii. 
II. The Gods of Olympus. — Gladstone, ^ijw^r (primer), ch. vi; Seemann, 
Mythology of Greece and Rome, pp. 27-86. 

III. The Trojan War. — Seemann, pp. 276-297; Guerber, Myths of Greece 
and Rome, ch. xxvii. 

IV. Romulus; Theseus. — V\vXz.xc\i, Romulus, Theseus. 

V. Homer. — Gladstone, Zf'cwi'r (primer); Jebb, Greek Literature {■pnmtx'), 
pp. 19-37; Murray, Ancient Greek Literature, ch. i; Mahaffy, Survey of Greek 
Civilization, ch. ii. 

VI. The Prehistoric Age. — Botsford, Greece, ch. i; Holm, LJistory of Greece, 
i. chs. iv, viii, xiii, xiv. 




Temple of Poseidon in Posidonia, Italy 

CHAPTER III 

TWO PERIODS OF COLONIAL EXPANSION 

[(«) Before looo B.C. ; {b) 750-550 B.C.] 

57. Earlier Colonization (before 1000 B.C.). — The Greeks did not 
long rest contented in the mother country. During the prehistoric age, 
as we have seen, they were settling the islands and the east coast of the 
Aegean Sea, They could pass without danger, without losing sight 
of land, across its entire breadth. Indeed, from the mountains of 
Euboea the Greeks could look quite across the sea to the hills of 
Chi'os. Before 1000 B.C. the Aeolians, lonians, and Dorians had 
formed the settlements mentioned in the preceding chapter,^ — the 
Aeolians on the north, the lonians in the centre, and south of them 
the Dorians. We are not to think of these colonists as leaving Greece 
to settle in foreign lands, but rather as extending the boundaries of 

^ § 44- 
F 65 



66 Two Periods of Colonial Expansion 

their own country. Greece, or Hellas, was the land of the Greeks, 
or Hellenes, wherever that might be. Its boundaries varied with the 
fortunes of the race. 

Of all the early Greeks the lonians of Asia Minor were the most 
active and intelligent. Their country was the best in Hellas ; it had 
a rich soil, a delightful chmate, and plenty of good harbors. From 
the Lydians, their near neighbors, they learned to weave fine woollens, 
which they dyed purple and wore in long robes with abundant golden 
ornaments. In their ships they carried their fine merchandise, not 
only among the islands and along the coasts of Greece, but even to 
Egypt and to Italy. 

Believing that their ancestors had come as colonists from Attica, 
twelve of their cities, joining in a league, prided themselves on their 
purity of race. But in fact with the Attic immigrants had come 
strangers from various parts of Hellas, so that even in the beginning 
the population was mixed ; and further, " those of noblest descent 
brought no women with them to their settlement, but took Carian 
women, whose parents they slew ; and on account of this slaughter 
these women laid down for themselves a rule, imposing oaths on one 
another, and handed it on to their daughters, that they should never 
eat with their husbands, nor call them by name, for this reason, be- 
cause the lonians had slain their fathers, husbands, and children, and 
then having done this had them to wife. This happened at Mi- 
le'tus,"^ for centuries the most brilliant city in Greece. As a rule 
migrations and settlements were made in this way. 

58. Later Colonization (750-550 B.C.) ; Achaean and Locrian 
Colonies. — About 1000 b.c. came a pause in colonization. Two 
hundred and fifty years afterward the Hellenes began to plant settle- 
ments in Italy and Sicily. Italy is farther than Asia Minor from the 
Greek peninsula, and the Ionian Sea is not, Hke the Aegean, filled 
with islands ; yet the Greeks from the Epeirot coast could look in 
clear weather across the narrowest part of the sea to the shore of 
1 Herodotus i. 146. 



Ionic and Doric Colonies 6/ 

Italy. There they found a far more fertile soil and a milder climate 
than they had known in their old homes. So large, too, was the new 
country that the early settlers called it " Great Greece." In southern 
Italy the Achaeans planted a group of prosperous colonies, the chief 
of which were Syb'a-ris, noted for her wealth and luxury, and Cro'ton, 
the home of famous athletes and physicians. After these two cities 
had shown the utmost good feeling toward each other for many years, 
they engaged in deadly strife, in which Sybaris was blotted out of 
existence. (510 B.C.) 

South of the Achaeans the city oi Lo'cri, founded by Locrians, was 
not only rich and prosperous but renowned for her excellent govern- 
ment and laws.^ 

59. Ionic and Doric Colonies. — Chal'cis, an Ionic city of Eu-boe'a, 
noted for her manufactures and commerce, also founded many 
colonies in the West, some of which became great centres of traffic. 
One of the most important in Italy was Cihnae^ near the Bay of 
Naples, a colony which we may style Rome's first schoolmistress, as 
she taught the Romans the alphabet and other rudiments of culture. 
Two notable colonies from Chalcis — Rhe'gi-um and Zan'cle, after- 
ward named Mes-se'ne — were founded on opposite sides of the 
Sicilian strait ; and there were many other Ionian settlements in 
northern Sicily. 

The Spartans, who were Dorians, founded one early colony in Italy, 
at Ta-ren'hiin, on the best harbor of the eastern coast. Because of its 
situation this city became renowned for commerce, wealth, and refine- 
ment ; so that it contrasted strikingly with frugal, old-fashioned Sparta. 

Corinth, another Dorian city, founded Syracuse in Or-tyg'i-a, an 
island off the eastern coast of Sicily. In time this colony outgrew 
the island, and spread over the adjoining mainland till it became the 
largest city in Greece ; its " Great Harbor " could shelter the navies 
of the world. Next to Syracuse in importance among the Dorian 
colonies of Sicily was Ac'ra-gas — Latin Ag-ri-gen'tum. Its founders 
^Botsford, Greece, p. 32. 2 § 214. 



68 



Tzvo Periods of Colonial Expansion 



built their city on a hill two miles from the sea, and adorned it with 
temples, colonnades, and beautiful dwellings, while all about it they 
planted vineyards and olive orchards. On account of its brilliancy 
and beauty Pindar, the poet, calls it " the eye of Sicily." 

60. Results of Colonization in the West. — Because of its wonder- 
ful fertility, Sicily soon excelled the mother country in wealth. Its 




Fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse 
(Present appearance) 

cities were mostly on the coast, and for this reason Pindar calls them 
"a gorgeous crown of citadels," which nearly surrounded the island. 
The Greeks were prevented from completing the circuit of colonies 
by Phoenicians from Carthage,^ who occupied the west end of Sicily. 
Whereas the lonians were for the most part in the north of the island, 
the Dorians were in the south. On the whole the latter had the 
better situation, and so were the more prosperous. 

The colonization of the West began as early as 750 B.C. and con- 

1 § 22, 



• Northern Colonies 69 

tinued a century or more. The territory occupied by the Greeks in 
Italy is called Mag'na Grae'ci-a (" Great Greece " ) ; while the term 
" Western Greece " includes their settlements in both Italy and 
Sicily. Western Greece was related to the mother country somewhat 
as America now is to Europe. It remained politically distinct, but 
always kept in the closest commercial and intellectual contact. 

61. Northern Colonies. — Chalcis was the first city to send colonies 
northward. On the northwest coast of the Aegean, explorers found a 
broad peninsula with three arms reaching far into the sea. It is so 
rugged and has so long a coast-line that the Greeks -who went there 
to live found it very homelike. Men swarmed to that region to work 
the copper, silver, and gold mines, and to cut timber for shipbuilding ; 
and as most of them came from Chalcis, they named their new home 
Chal-cidi-ce. Pot-i-dae'a, a Corinthian colony, however, became 
the chief commercial city of the region (§ 136). 

While some of the Greeks were working the mines of Chalcidice, 
others were sailing into the Hel'les-pont to fish and to found settle- 
ments along its shores. The people of Miletus established more 
colonies there than did any of the other Greeks. They were the first 
also to push on through the strait of Bos'po-rus and to explore and 
settle the coasts of the Black (Eux'ine) Sea. Its southern coast 
yielded silver, copper, iron, and timber ; its northern coast, cattle and 
grain ; the sea itself, fish. The country about this sea accordingly 
supplied the populous districts of Greece with food and with raw 
material for manufactures. 

One of the most important of the colonizing cities of Greece was 
Megara; and her principal settlement was By-zan' ti-um at the en- 
trance to the Bosporus. It has remained a great city to the present 
day ; but long ago its name was changed to Constantinople. 

All the colonies on the shores of the Aegean Sea and in the coun- 
try of the Hellespont, extending as far as Byzantium, entered at 
once into the political and intellectual life of Greece. The circle of 
the Aegean coasts and islands was in fact the heart of Hellas, in 



70 Tzvo Periods of Colonial Expatision 

which her history centred. The outlying colonies, on the other hand, 
as those in western Greece and about the Black Sea, were, so to 
speak, her arms by which she came into contact with the world, to 
supply herself with material and mental food, and to offer to the 
world in return rich gifts from her store of wisdom and art. 

62. The More Distant Colonies. — From the point of view just set 
forth no settlements were more important than those made on the 
farthest Mediterranean shores. As early as looo B.C. the Greeks 
colonized Cyprus. After Psammetichus ^ with their help had united 
Egypt under his rule and had freed it from Assyria, he permitted 
them to settle in his country ; and somewhat later they founded 
Nau'cra-tis near one of the mouths of the Nile. In it all the great 
commercial cities of Greece had their warehouses, chartered by the 
Egyptian government. The kings of the land sent youths to Nau- 
cratis to learn the Hellenic tongue, and began to form alliances with 
the Greek states. Many Greeks who were eager for knowledge and 
had the leisure and the means of travelling visited Egypt to see the 
strange old country and learn wisdom from its priests. They brought 
home a itw valuable facts about surveying, the movements of the 
stars, and the recording of events, and with the help of this little 
treasure of truths their own bright minds worked out the first real 
science. 

The Aegean sailor on his way to Egypt passed southward by Crete 
to the nearest point of the Libyan shore, thence eastward to Naucra- 
tis. Near the Libyan landing some Dorians founded Cy-re^?ie. They 
conquered the natives of the vicinity and planted other colonies. 
The Cyrenaeans were able to defend themselves against Egyptian 
armies ; but Egypt on the east, Carthage on the west, and in the 
interior the desert gave them little room for expansion. 

In the opposite direction, the Phocaeans of Ionia rowed their 
fifty-oared galleys to the southern coast of Gaul, where they founded 
Mas-sa'li-a on an excellent harbor. From this colony as a centre 

H8. 



I 



Organiaatiojt 71 

they established trading stations in the interior as well as along the 
coast ; by means of these settlements they extended their trafific over 
the whole of Gaul and as far as Britain and the Baltic Sea. In Spain 
the Greeks founded fewer settlements, owing to its distance as well as 
to the opposition of the Phoenicians, who were already taking posses- 
sion of this peninsula. 

63. Organization of a Colony. — When a city planned to send out 
a colony, it was customary first to ask the advice and consent of 
Apollo at Delphi. Having obtained this, it appointed some noble as 
"founder," who was to lead the enterprise, to distribute the lands 
among the settlers, and to arrange the government. Generally the 
mother city permitted any from neighboring communities to join the 
expedition, and all did so who loved adventure, or wanted better 
opportunities for trading or farming, or felt oppressed by the home 
government. The founder assigned each man his place in the new 
state, and established a government and religion like those of the 
mother city. In this connection it is well to notice that every Greek 
city had in its town hall a sacred hearth on which it always kept fire 
burning. This hearth was the religious centre of the community, an 
altar on which the divine founder and ancestor received his sacrifices. 
It was customary for colonists to carry with them sacred fire from the 
hearth of the mother city with which to kindle the public hearth of 
the new settlement, that the religious life of the old community might 
continue uninterrupted in the new, and that those who went forth 
to found homes in a strange country might not for a moment be 
deprived of divine protection. Although the colony usually looked 
to the mother city with respect and love, — such as a child owes to 
his parent, — it was poHtically independent. 

64. Greece and the Greeks. — The later period of colonization, 
which began about 750 B.C., came to an end two centuries afterward. 
In this time the Greeks had spread over a large part of the known 
ancient world, as the western Europeans have made their home in 
every part of the modern world. The Greeks were then all that 



72 



Tivo Periods of Colonial Expansion 



western Europeans now are, — representatives and teachers of the 
highest existing civilization, carrying their culture everywhere, and 
everywhere gaining the advantage over others by means of their 
own superior vitality and inteUigence. Greece, or Hellas, included 
all their settlements on the shores of the Mediterranean and its 
tributaries, from Egypt and Ci-li'ci-a to the "Pillars of Heracles," — 
Strait of Gi-bral'tar, — and from south Russia to the Libyan desert. 
They were not united under a single government, but were one in 
blood, one in speech and manners, one in religion. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Causes and Effects of Colonization. — Abbott, History of Greece, i. 
pp. 353-35S; Bury, History of Greece, pp. 86-89. 

II. Colonies in Italy and Sicily. — Bury, pp. 93-106; Abbott, i. pp. 342- 
348; Holm, History of Greece, i. pp. 282-294. 

III. Character of a Greek Colony. — Botsford, Greece, p. 39; Bury, p. 87 f.; 
Abbott, i. p. 355 f. 




A Greek Vase 
(Demeter, Persephone, and Triptolemus) 



CHAPTER IV 

NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS 

65. The City-state. — In every Greek community, whether a 
colony or not, several kindred families were joined in a brotherhood 
(phra'try) ; several of these brotherhoods in a tribe (phy'le) ; and 
three or four tribes made up the city. This division of the com- 
munity served political, military, and religious purposes. The space 
within the walls was usually so small and contained so few people 
that we should call it a village ; the whole domain of the community 
occupied perhaps no more than the valley of some brook. The 
Greek wovd po/'i's ("city") applied to the whole domain, which 
included a walled town and the fields about it. As the Greek state 
was under the city government, and within the city limits, we call it 
a city-state to distinguish it from the territorial states of modern 
times. All the citizens of a Greek state regarded each other as 
kinsmen, the children of a common ancestor. Thus in every Ionian 
city they claimed descent from Ion through his four sons, the fathers 
of the four tribes to which they all belonged.^ Though these remote 
ancestors were mythical, the Greeks looked upon them as real 
persons. Each state gave special honor to some one of the gods, 
and each worshipped the common ancestor. The Ionian cities, for 
instance, worshipped Apollo, the divine father of Ion ; and the 
people of each town considered it impious to admit strangers to 
their brotherhoods and to their religious festivals, for the god loved 
only his fellow-citizens and looked upon all others as intruders. 

66. Amphictyonies. — There were hundreds of these little city- 

' § 71. n. 3- 
7o 



74 National Institutions 

states in early Greece. It was difficult for them to unite in larger 
states, because they were so exclusive in their religion and because 
they were separated from one another by high mountain ranges. 
But neighboring communities sometimes found it convenient to join 
together for commerce or for social and religious purposes. A 
league of this kind was called by the Greeks an am-phic'ty-on-y — 
a " union of neighbors." At fixed times the citizens gathered at the 
shrine of the god to hold their fair and festival in his honor. 
Deputies from the states of the league met in a council to deliberate 
on the interests of the god and of his worship. 

The most famous amphictyony was that of twelve tribes — not 
cities — of Thessaly and central Greece for the protection of the 
shrine of Apollo, the prophet-god of Delphi. Though the members 
of the league continued to fight among themselves and would not 
help one another when attacked by foreigners, they recognized 
certain laws of war ; for instance, they were not to destroy any 
allied city or cut it off from running water in a siege, and any one 
who wronged the god or injured his property they were to punish 
with foot and hand and voice, and with every means in their power. 
This they did by declaring a " sacred war " against the offending 
state. 

67. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. — The great importance of 
the league which centred in Delphi was due to the oracle of Apollo 
in that city. High up in a ravine at the southern base of Mount 
Parnassus, in the midst of magnificent scenery, stood the temple of 
Apollo. Within was a fissure in the earth through which volcanic 
vapor issued inspiring the Pyth'i-a, or prophetess of Apollo, who sat 
over it on a tripod. In ecstasy from the vapor, she muttered some- 
thing in reply to questions ; a priest standing near wrote out her 
utterance, and gave it to the questioner as the word of Zeus de- 
livered to man through his son Apollo. The oracle extended its 
influence beyond the Delphic Amphictyony till it became national. 
Apollo then came to be recognized as the expounder of religious and 



Delphi 



75 



moral lazu for all Hellas ; he often gave his sanction to political 
measures ; he watched over the calendar, and was the guide and 
patron of colonists. His advice was sought by individuals and by 
states on both private and public matters. His fame extended 
beyond Greece, and some foreign nations acknowledged him as 
their highest religious authority. Those who sought his favor sent 
him presents till his treasuries were full of wealth. The Delphic 




Delphi with Modern Village 



priests, who were the real authors of the oracles, kept themselves 
acquainted with current events that they might give intelligent 
advice ; but when necessary to preserve the credit of xA.pollo, they 
offered double-meaning prophecies so as to be right in any event. 
In moral questions their influence was usually wholesome, as they 
preferred to advise just and moderate conduct. But sometimes the 
oracle was bribed, sometimes it lent its aid to the schemes of 
politicians, and in the war of independence which the Greeks fought 



y6 National Institutions 

against Persia it lost favor by being unpatriotic. Notwithstanding 
all its shortcomings, it was a bond of union among the Hellenes, for 
in thinking of Apollo as their common prophet, they thought of one 
another as members of the same great political society. 

68. Political Leagues ; Great States. — Some religious leagues 
became political as well. This happened when one of the cities 
grew strong enough to compel the others to acknowledge her as 
leader in war. Such a leadership the Greeks called a he' ge-mo-ny. 
For instance, among the cities of Boeotia which joined in a league 
for the worship of Athena, the greatest were Orchomenus and 
Thebes. Each aimed to make herself more powerful by conquering 
her neighbors. In course of time Thebes outstripped Orchomenus 
and became the head of the league. The victor then tried continu- 
ally, but in vain, to subject the other allied cities to herself, so as to 
convert the league into a single great state. The whole history of 
Boeotia turns on this strife. 

Argolis also had a league of cities. First Tiryns was leader, then 
Mycenae, and finally Argos, which at the beginning of the historic 
age was the strongest power in Greece.^ Though Argos advanced 
beyond Thebes in the work of changing her alliance to a single 
great state, she did not in this attempt meet with perfect success. 

What Thebes and Argos failed to accomplish Athens achieved 
before the dawn of history. Partly by fighting, but in the main by 
persuasion, she brought together the petty kingdoms of Attica 
in one large state. In time all the Atticans became Athe- 
nians, and the whole country was brought into the city-state of 
Athens. 

By subduing the free cities of Laconia, Sparta, too, built up a 
great state. Unlike Athens, however, she kept the conquered cities 
in subjection to herself. It is an important fact that at the dawn 
of history (about 700 B.C.) Athens and Lacedaemon — the state 
governed by Sparta — were the only two Greek states, as distin- 

^§38- 



Olympic Games 



77 



guished from leagues, which included a large area.^ Hence they 
were to become in time the strongest powers in Greece. 

69. The Great National Games. — Another institution which helped 
unite the Greeks was the great national games. There were four of 
these, held at Olympia, Ne'me-a, on the Isthmus of Corinth, and 
at Delphi, each in 
honor of the chief god 
of the place.^ The 
Olympian games were 
the most splendid. 
They began in the 
earliest times as a 
merely local festival ; 
but gradually more 
distant communities 
joined in them, till all 
the Hellenes took 
part, and thus they 
became national. 
Once in four years a 
vast number of Greeks 
from all the shores 
of the Mediterranean 
gathered on the banks 
of the Alpheius in Elis 
to see the competitions, 
held was proclaimed a 
ought to be at peace 

1 Although they were large as compared with the other states of Greece, we 
should compare them in area not with our states, but with our counties. Attica 
contained no more than a thousand square miles. Determine from the map of 
Greece whether Laconia was larger or smaller than Attica. 

2 Apollo at Delphi, Poseidon on the Isthmus, and Zeus at Nemea and at 
Olympia. 




The Wrestlers 



The month in which the games were 

holy season, during which all Hellas 

with itself. The multitude encamped 



yS National Institiitions 

about the sacred enclosure of Zeus, the great god of Olympia. 
" Merchants set up their booths, and money-changers their tables, 
all classes of artists tried to collect audiences and admirers, crowds 
attended the exercises of the athletes who were in training, or 
admired the practice of the horses and chariots which were entered 
for the races. Heralds recited treaties, military or commercial, 
recently formed between Greek cities, in order that they might be 
more widely known." ^ 

The competitors in the games had to be Greeks of good character 
and religious standing and of sufficient athletic training. The judges 
of the games examined the qualifications of candidates, and at the 
end bestowed the wreath of victory. There were contests in run- 
ning, leaping, discus-throwing, spear-hurling, wrestling, boxing, and 
racing of horses and chariots. 

Such contests promoted art ; the Greek sculptor found his best 
models among the athletes. These great national games also fostered 
commerce, peace, and unity. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The City-state. — Botsford, Greece, pp. 20-22; Cox, Greeks and Persians, 
pp. 4-10; Fustel de Coulanges, .4««V«/ OV)', Bk. Hi; Fowler, The City -State of 
the Greeks and J\omans, chs. i-iii. 

II. The Delphic Oracle. — Curtius, History of Greece, Bk. II. ch. iv. pp. 
20-28 (N.Y. 1886); Holm, History of Greece, \. pp. 228-236; Kh\io\X, History 
of Greece, ii. p. 30 f. 

III. The Olympic Gaines. — Bury, History of Greece, pp. 140-144; Curtius, 
Bk. II. ch. iv. pp. 31-35; Holm i. pp. 235-241. 

1 P. Gardner, New Chapters in Greek History, p. 275 f. 



i 



CHAPTER V 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ATHENS FROM KINGSHIP TO DEMOCRACY 

(753-508 B.C.) 

70. The Kingship (to 753 B.C.). — The early society and govern- 
ment of Athens were hke those of other Ionian states.^ Her last 
royal family, the Me-don'ti-dae, claimed descent from King Co'drus 
("The Glorious"). There is a myth that in his reign the Dorians 
invaded Attica. Word came to him from Apollo at Delphi that the 
army whose leader should be killed by the enemy would be victorious 
in the war. Thereupon he dressed himself like a peasant, and going 
into the Dorian camp, intentionally provoked a quarrel and was slain 
without being known, thus bringing eternal glory to himself and 
victory to his country. The Athenians from gratitude for his heroic 
self-sacrifice decreed that his son Me'don should reign in his stead ; 
and after Medon, his descendants, the Medontidae, were kings of 
Athens for many generations. Although Codrus is mythical, no one 
doubts the existence of the family. 

The Athenian council of nobles — known as the Council of the 
A-re-op'a-gus^ — desired to weaken the royal power. In 753 B.C. it 
decreed accordingly that the king should reign for a period of only 
ten years, whereas he had hitherto held office for life. While the 
government remained for a time a kingship in name, this change 
made it in fact an aristocracy. 

71. The Aristocracy (753-594 B.C.). — One power after another 
was taken from the king and bestowed upon new ofticers until (about 
650 B.C.) there were nine principal magistrates called archons. They 

^ §§ 53-55. ^ § 73- 

79 



8o Development of Alliens from Kings Jiip to Democracy 



were (i) the Archon,^ who was the chief executive magistrate, (2) 
the pol'em-arch, who commanded the army, (3) the king, now a 
mere priest and judge, and (4) the six thes-moth'e-tae (" legisla- 
tors") who recorded the laws, had charge of public documents, and 

acted as judges in cer- 
tain civil cases. At first 
these ofificers were se- 
lected from the nobles 
by the Council of the 
Areopagus. 

The Council of the 
Areopagus, like the 
council in other Ionic 
cities,- was originally 
made up of great nobles, 
the leaders of the tribes 
or the phratries or the 
powerful families^ 
{gentes, Gk. gene) of the 
state. But after the 
institution of the archons 
at Athens, the same 
council came to be com- 
posed of all ex-archons 
who had filled their 
offices with credit. The 
members of this body were therefore wealthy, and they held their 
places for life. They cared for the interests of the richer classes, 
supervised the magistrates, and punished immoral as well as lawless 
citizens. In this period they were the supreme power in the state. 

^ In this book, when the word archon applies to the head of the board of " nine 
archons," it will be capitalized. 

M 55- ' § 65. 




The Areopagus 
(A group of excavators in the foreground) 



Cylon 8 1 

A Council of Four Hundred and One, formed about 650 B.C., was 
filled by lot in such a way as to represent the four tribes^ and forty- 
eight townships " of Attica. It prepared decrees for presentation to 
the assembly and assisted the magistrates in their duties. 

In the earlier part of the period, the common citizens had little to 
do with the government; but about 650 B.C. the assembly, now con- 
sisting of all who could equip themselves with full armor, began to 
meet regularly. It elected magistrates, and accepted or rejected 
decrees prepared for it by the Council of Four Hundred and One. 
At the same time the wealthy, even though they might not be noble, 
became eligible to the offices. 

With a view to taxation and military service, the citizens were 
divided into four classes according to the amount of produce which 
each citizen derived from his land. These census classes, however, 
did not become important till the following period.'^ 

72. The Conspiracy of Cylon (628 B.C.). — While these changes 
were taking place, the country was full of confusion and strife. The 
poor, who were for the most part in slavery to the rich, threatened 
to rebel against their lords ; the shepherds and peasants of the Hills 
in north Attica hated the wealthier men of the Plain about Athens, 
just as the highland and lowland Scots used to hate each other ; 
both Plain and Hills were hostile to the traders and fishermen of the 
Shore ; and the contention between these local factions was continu- 
ally breaking out into civil war. In addition to these troubles, the 
great families were actually fighting with each other for the possession 
of the offices, and as the son inherited the feuds of his father no one 
could hope for an end of the turmoil. The state was in fact drifting 
into anarchy. 

There was at this time in Attica an ambitious young man named 
Cylon, who belonged to one of the noblest and most powerful famihes 

^ The Celeontes, Aegicoreis, Argadeis, and Hopletes. They are called the Ionic 
tfiloes, as they are found in every Ionic state; cf. § 65. 

- The naucraries. ^ § 7^ 

G 



82 Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy 

of the state, and who had greatly distinguished himself by winning a 
victory in the Olympic games. Taking advantage of the weakness 
of his country he planned to usurp the government. His father-in- 
law, The-ag'e-nes, despot of Megara, encouraged him in his scheme 
and lent him a force of hired soldiers. With the help of these 
mercenaries and of a band of friends from the nobility, he seized 
the Acropolis. But the country people in great numbers put on 
their armor and besieged him in the citadel. When their provisions 
were exhausted, Cylon and his brother stole through the besieging 
lines ; their starving followers, forced to surrender, flocked for 
protection about Athena's altar on the Acropolis. Hereupon the 
chiefs of the townships promised these suppliants their lives if they 
would submit to trial. They agreed ; yet not having full confidence 
in the promise, they tied a thread to Athena's image, and holding 
one end of it, went down to the tribunal. But when they came near 
the shrine of the Furies,^ the thread by which the goddess gave them 
her protection broke ; and then the Archon Meg'a-cles and his 
followers stoned and butchered them, permitting only a few to escape. 
Probably a feud between the family of Cylon and that of Megacles 
led to this impious massacre. The Alc-me-on'i-dae, to whom 
Megacles belonged, were the mightiest family in Attica. The state 
appears to have been powerless to bring them to trial either for 
murder or for the mistreatment of suppliants, but the curse of impiety 
rested upon the whole family for two centuries or more.- There was 
need of laws and courts for the suppression of such feuds. 

73. Draco, the Lawgiver (621 B.C.). — By keeping the laws secret 
the nobles had ruled thus far in their own interest ; the magistrates 
decided cases in favor of those of their own rank or of those who 

1 The work of the Furies, or angry goddesses, was to punish perjury, murder, 
mistreatment of parents and suppliants, and a few other such offences. At that 
time their shrine was probably a cave in the south side of the Areopagus. 

2 A suppliant was one who took refuge at an altar or in a temple of some god. 
Any one who mistreated a suppliant brought upon himself and his family the 
curse of impiety. 



Laws of Draco 83 

could pay the highest fee. Men were growing rich through injustice \ 
and though the great lords were often at strife with one another, they 
agreed in insulting and oppressing the lower class. Naturally the 
commons resisted this oppression and demanded to know the laws by 
which they were judged. The nobles yielded, and in 621 B.C. the 
citizens elected Draco "legislator"^ with full power to write out a 
code for the state. 

His laws of homicide are of chief interest because the Athenians 
retained them unchanged for many centuries. Before Draco a man 
who killed another in self-defence, or for any other good reason, was 
compelled, like the wilful murderer, to flee from the country or satisfy 
the kinsmen of the slain by paying them a sum of money ; otherwise 
they would kill him in revenge. According to Draco's code wilful 
murder was to be tried by the council of nobles sitting on the 
Areopagus, a hill within the city which was sacred to the Furies, and 
the penalty in case of conviction was death with the confiscation of 
the murderer's property. From this hill accordingly the aristocratic 
council received its name, "Council of the Areopagus."^ Cases of 
accidental and justifiable homicide were to be tried by other courts, 
each in its appropriate place, and the punishments were graded 
according to the degree of guilt. 

Theft of vegetables was punishable with death ; and this fact has 
given Draco a reputation for cruelty. But though the penalty for 
steahng was too severe, the laws of homicide were a great improve- 
ment. "Whoever made them originally, whether heroes or gods, 
did not oppress the unfortunate, but alleviated humanely their mis- 
eries so far as they could with right." ^ It is even probable that 
apart from his laws of homicide he made little change in existing cus- 
toms, so that he cannot be held wholly responsible for the harsh 
features of his code. 

74. Lords and Tenants. — His laws did nothing, however, to help 

1 He was one of the six thesmothetaej § 71. ~ § 70. 

3 Demosthenes xxiii, 70. 



84 Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy 

the wretched poor. The cause of their misery we shall now con- 
sider. 

When a wandering tribe or a colony took possession of a tract of 
land on which to found a city, the king or leader divided the plough- 
land among the men, doubtless giving each a lot proportioned to his 
rank. In return for these gifts the citizens followed the king in war 
and worked for him or gave him presents to support him in time of 
peace. The richer citizens, who on account of their illustrious 
descent or their distinguished service in war had received large 
estates, also divided a part of their lands among tenants, — either 
their best slaves or homeless persons. In return for the land the 
tenants served their lord, and supported him in war and in politics. 
In Attica such tenants were called hec-te't?io-ri,^ because in addition 
to other service they paid their lord a sixth part of the produce. 
No one thought of selling his lot of land, first because he did not 
think of it as property, and secondly because the sale would have 
deprived him of a livelihood. 

75. Slavery of the Masses. — We have seen how the nobles 
degraded the office of king to a mere priesthood, and themselves 
ruled the state through their council." After they had brought about 
this great change in the government, they were not content with the 
enjoyment of all the political power, but aimed also to acquire all 
the wealth in the state and to gain an absolute mastery over the citi- 
zens. Those peasants who had received lands directly from the 
king, and were, therefore, practically freemen, the nobles forced into 
dependence on themselves ; when a lord laid claim to a field, whether 
justly or unjustly, he placed on it a " boundary " stone, as a sign that 
the land and the persons on it were his. It was not long before these 
stones stood on all the farms in Attica, holding " Black Earth en- 
slaved," in the words of Solon, a great statesman of the time. In 
addition to the payment of rent the better class of tenants had to equip 
themselves at their own expense for military service ; and if any one 
1 Literally " sixth-part men." 2 gg j^, 70 f. 



Solon 8 5 

failed to bring in his quota of produce, or otherwise fell into debt to his 
lord, he and his children could be sold into slavery. With nothing 
but sharpened sticks for digging the stony soil the poor tenants found 
it so difficult to make a living and pay their dues, that many were 
actually sold into slavery to foreign masters. There was no legal 
way of obtaining satisfaction, for their lords were the absolute judges 
in the courts. Accordingly they agreed among themselves to rebel. 

76. Solon. — When the existence of the city was thus threatened, 
Solon came forward to save it. He addressed to the citizens a poem 
containing the following words : — 

" It is not the will of Zeus and the purpose of the blessed undying gods that 
our city should ever perish; for in such wise the great-souled guardian of the 
city — Pallas Athena, daughter of a mighty sire — spreads over it her hands. 
The nobles, persuaded by their love of money, desire thoughtlessly to destroy 
the great city. Dishonest is the mind of the magistrates, who for their mon- 
strous violence shall suffer many ills. For they know not how to be satisfied or 
to enjoy the present feast in quiet. . . . They grow wealthy by obeying injus- 
tice. . . . Sparing neither sacred nor public property, they rob and steal, one 
here another there. . . . And many of the poor are going into foreign lands, 
sold and bound in unseemly chains, and suffer hateful woes by force of slavery. 
Hall doors will no longer hold the evil ; it leaps over the lofty hedge, and you 
find it even if you hide in a chamber corner. This my soul bids me teach the 
Athenians, that misrule brings most ills to a city, but that good rule makes all 
things harmonious and at one." 

77. Archonship of Solon (594 B.C.). — Solon was not only a mem- 
ber of one of the noblest families in Attica, but also a merchant of 
wide experience and a friend of the poor. As all classes therefore 
had confidence in him, they elected him Archon and lawgiver for 
the year 594 B.C., that he might restore harmony among the citizens 
and give them a better government. 

On the day he entered office he ordered the 7-emoval of all the 
boundary stones, so as to release the tenants from the payment of 
dues to their lords. For the future he forbade slavery for debt, and 
fixed the amount of land which any one might legally acquire. And 
in order that the people might henceforth protect both their freedom 



86 Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy 



and their property, he admitted the lowest class ^ as well as the others 
to a popular supreme court which he established, and to the assem- 
bly. The court was composed of all citizens thirty years old and 
above who offered to serve as jurors; all who were eighteen and 
above might take part in the assembly. Yet as these duties long 

remained unpaid, none 
but the well-to-do could 
find leisure regularly to 
attend to them. In the 
assembly the people 
elected their magistrates 
and voted on important 
public questions brought 
before them by the 
Council of Four Hun- 
dred — formerly Four 
Hundred and One. The 
popular court, on the 
other hand, received 
appeals from the judg- 
ments of the archons, 
and tried the magistrates 
at the expiration of their 
terms, if any one accused 
them of having abused 
their authority. These 
were by far his most 
important measures. He did not rest, however, till he had improved 
the entire government. 

78. The Athenian Constitution as improved by Solon.^ — The con- 
stitution, improved by him, had the following form : — 

2 The constitutional matter in small type may be reserved for the review or 
omitted altogether by beginning classes, according to the judgment of the teacher. 




" Solon " 
(National Museum, Naples. As there are no con- 
temporary portraits of Greek persons so early as 
Solon, this bust, like the statue of Homer, can 
only be an ideal.) 



Constitution 87 

I. The Territorial Divisions of Attica. 

The four tribes and forty-eight nau'crar-ies, or townships, remain as before 

(§ ro- 
ll. The Four Census Classes. 

1. 1^\\Q pen-ta-co-si-o-vie-diin' ni — "five-hundred-bushel men" — whose es- 

tates yield 500 or more measures of grain, oil, and wine. They are 
eligible to cavalry service, to the highest military offices, to treasury- 
ships, and archonships. 

2. The hip'peis — knights — whose estates yield from 300 to 500 measures 

wet and dry. They are eligible to cavalry service, probably to the 
archonships, and to various offices of moderate importance. 

3. The zeu-gi'tae — " yoked-men," that is, heavy-armed men in battle array 

— whose estates yield from 200 to 300 measures wet and dry. They 
serve in the heavy infantry and are eligible to inferior offices. 

4. The tJietes — the laborers, the poor — whose estates are inferior to those 

of the zeugitae, or who are entirely without land. They serve as 
light-armed troops, and though eligible to no offices, they may attend 
the assembly and the popular court. 
The first (three classes pay war taxes, which are rarely levied; but the 
thetes are exempt. The classes existed before (§ 71), but Solon 
gave them this definite form. 

III. The Magistrates. 

They have the same duties as in the preceding period (§ 71); for their 
qualifications, see II. At the close of their terms of office they are now 
responsible to the popular court. 

IV. The Councils. f Qualifications and method of ap- 

1. The Council (j9om/^) of the Areopagus, j pointment of the councillors 

2. The Council (^Boule) of the Four | and powers of the councils are 
Hundred. I substantially as before (§ 71). 

V. The Assembly — Ec-dehi-a. 

1. Composed of all the citizens who have the leisure and the desire to attend. 

2. It elects magistrates and votes on questions brought before it by the 

Council of Four Hundred. 

VI. The Popular Supreme Court — Hel-i-ae'a. 

1. Composed of all citizens above thirty years of age who have the leisure 

and the desire to attend. 

2. It receives appeals from the judgments of archons, and tries the magis- 

trates at the end of their terms, 

VII. Form of Government. 

The government may still be called an aristocracy,^ as it remains to a great 

^ For the use of the more special term "timocracy," see Botsford, Greece, 
PP- 45. 54- 



88 Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy 

extent in the hands of the " better class." But in Solon's arrangements 
the popular court and the attendance of the thetes at the assembly are 
democratic. These popular elements of the constitution gradually grow 
so strong that in time they make the whole government democratic. 

79. The Laws of Solon. — The improvement of the constitution 
was but a part of Solon's work. Revising the laws of Draco, he 
lightened those penalties which he found too severe. In a kindly 
spirit he aimed to help the poor by forbidding the exportation of all 
products of the soil except oHve oil ; for by keeping the fruit and 
grain at home he hoped to prevent the return of famine. In the 
same spirit he made laws to encourage skilled industry, and com- 
pelled every man to teach his son a trade ; with the growth of manu- 
facturing and commerce he knew that life would become easier and 
the population larger. As a standard of value for Athens he adopted 
a silver coin from her friendly neighbor Chalcis. As it was lighter 
than the coin to which the Athenians had been accustomed, it en- 
abled those who still owed to pay more easily, and it helped trade 
with Euboea and her colonies, with Egypt, and with all other coun- 
tries which used the same standard. Thus Solon introduced Athens 
to a commercial world she had scarcely known before. 

80. Drifting into Anarchy (594-560 B.C.). — Solon made his laws 
binding for a hundred years, and required all the citizens to swear to 
obey them. When he had completed his work, " he found himself 
beset by people coming to him and harassing him concerning his 
laws, criticising here and questioning there, till as he wished neither 
to alter what he had decided on nor yet to be an object of ill-will to 
everyone by remaining in Athens, he set off on a journey to Egypt 
... for ten years with the combined objects of trade and travel." ^ 

After visiting many foreign lands he returned home to find his 
country in great confusion. No one was satisfied with his reforms ; 
the nobles had hoped he would restore to them all their old power, 
and the poor had expected a complete redistribution of property. 

"^ AxvaioSX^, Athenian Constitution, 11. 



Pisistratiis 89 

In fact, though Solon had provided his country with excellent laws, 
there was no one with the will and the power to enforce them. The 
state accordingly was falling into anarchy ; the men of the Hills, 
Plain, and Shore^ were fighting one another so that in some years no 
Archon could be elected. 

81. Pisistratus becomes Tyrant (560 B.C.). — The leader of the 
Hill men was Pi-sis'tra-tus, " crafty and pleasant of speech, a pro- 
tector of the poor, and a man of moderation even in his quarrels."" 
These popular qualities, added to his successful generalship in a 
recent war with Megara, attracted many followers. But the men of 
the Plain and of the Shore were his bitter foes, who would not hesi- 
tate to kill him if an opportunity afforded. One day he drove into 
the market-place at Athens, and showed the people wounds which 
he said his enemies had inflicted on himself and his mules. The 
people in the assembly voted their favorite a guard of fifty men who 
were to arm themselves with clubs. Pisistratus quietly increased 
the number, and after substituting spears for clubs, he seized the 
citadel and made himself tyrant of Athens. A tyrant in the Greek 
sense was one who seized or held the government illegally — a 
usurper ; he was not necessarily severe. 

Though the government of Pisistratus was moderate, he had not ruled 
long when the leader of the Shore, combining with the chief of the 
Plain, drove him into exile. The two allies soon quarrelled ; then the 
leader of the Shore " opened negotiations with Pisistratus, proposing 
that the latter should marry his daughter; and on these terms he 
brought him back to Athens by a very primitive and simple-minded 
device. He first spread abroad a rumor that Athena was bringing 
back Pisistratus, and then having found a woman of great stature and 
beauty, ... he dressed her in a garb resembling that of the goddess 
and brought her into the city with Pisistratus. The latter drove in 
on a chariot with the woman beside him, and the inhabitants of the 
city, struck with awe, received him with adoration."^ 

^ § 72. 2 Plutarch, Solon, 29. ^ Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 14. 



90 Developnieiit of AtJiens from Kingship to Democracy 



Pisistratus married the daughter of his ally, but afterward refused 
to treat her as his wife. Enraged at this conduct, her father settled 
his quarrel with the Plain men, whereupon Pisistratus withdrew from 
the country and went to Mount Pan-gae'us in Thrace. By working 
the gold mines of this region he acquired great wealth, with which he 
hired soldiers and gained many friends. When after ten years of 

exile he was ready to force 
his return, Thebes, E-re'tri-a, 
and other cities gave their 
active support, for he had a 
wonderful gift of winning 
friends abroad as well as at 
home. He landed at Mara- 
thon, on the northeast coast 
of Attica. While he was there 
in camp, hundreds who looked 
to him for. protection from 
the oppression of the nobles 
flocked to him from all parts 
of Attica. On the way to 
Athens he came upon the 
camp of his opponents, who 
had no thought of his ap- 
proach. Some were asleep, 
and others were playing dice ; 
but all hastily fled. The sons 
of Pisistratus, however, mounted their horses and easily overtook 
the fugitives, telling them to go cheerfully home, as no harm would 
come to them. Although many nobles immediately fled from the 
country, the people did as they were told. Regaining his authority 
in this way, Pisistratus established himself firmly by means of troops 
hired from other states. 
82. His Government. — "His administration was temperate, as has 





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Athenian Lady at Time of Pisistratus 
(Acropolis Museum, Athens) 



Hippias and HipparcJins 91 

been said before, and more like constitutional government than 
tyranny. Not only was he in every respect humane and mild and 
ready to forgive those who offended, but in addition he advanced 
money to the poorer people to help them in their labors, so that they 
might make their living by agriculture. In this he had two objects : 
first that they might not spend their time in the city, but might 
be scattered over all the face of the country ; and secondly that, 
being moderately well off and occupied with their own business, they 
might have neither the wish nor the leisure to attend to public 
affairs. At the same time his revenues were increased by the 
thorough cultivation of the country, since he imposed a tax of one- 
tenth on all the produce. For the same reason he instituted the 
local justices and often made journeys in person into the country to 
inspect it and settle disputes between individuals, that they might 
not come into the city and neglect their farms." ^ 

He built an aqueduct to supply Athens with fresh water ; he 
erected temples, founded religious festivals, and encouraged literature 
and art. His reign marks a great advance, not only in education, but 
in agriculture, in the industries, in wealth, and in quiet, orderly 
government. 

83. Hippias and Hipparchus. — When he died in old age (527 B.C.), 
his sons Hip'pi-as and Hip-par'chus succeeded him. For a time 
they imitated the wise government of their father. But unfortunately 
Hipparchus, the younger, in an affair of love, insulted Har-mo'di-us 
and Ar-is-to-gei'ton, two noble youths, who in return plotted the 
overthrow of the tyrants. Taking advantage of the Pan-ath-en-a'ic 
festival in honor of Athena, they concealed their swords in myrtle 
wreaths, and killed Hipparchus while he was arranging the pro- 
cession. Hippias, who as the elder was the head of the government, 
they could not surprise. Failing therefore to overthrow the tyranny, 
they were themselves taken and put to death. But after the 
Athenians regained their freedom, they celebrated Harmodius and 

^ Aristotle, Athenian ConsiitiUion, 16. 



92 Development of AtJietts from Kingship to Democracy 

Aristogeiton in song as tyrant-slayers, and decreed public honors to 
be enjoyed forever by the descendants of the two heroes. 

In consequence of the murder Hippias treated the nobles with 
great harshness, so that he became very unpopular. 

Meanwhile the exiled nobles were trying to bring about their 
return. Ckis'ihe-nes, leader of the exiles, won the favor of the 
Delphic oracle by building for Apollo a splendid temple with a 
marble front ; on this work he spent far more money than the 
contract demanded. In gratitude for the generous deed the 
prophetess was ready to aid in restoring the exiles to their homes. 
Accordingly whenever the Lacedaemonians, now the leading people of 
Peloponnese,^ sent to consult the oracle on any subject whatever, 
the answer was always, " Athens must be set freeT 

In obedience to the oracle Cle-om'e-nes, king of the Lacedae- 
monians, led an army into Attica and besieged Hippias in the 
Acropolis. " And the Lacedaemonians would never have captured 
the sons of Pisistratus at all; for the besiegers had no design to 
make a long blockade, and the others were well provided with food 
and drink ; so that the Lacedaemonians would have gone away back 
to Sparta after besieging the tyrant's party for a few days only : but 
as it was, a thing happened just at this time which was unfortunate 
for the one party, and of assistance to the other ; for the children 
of the sons of Pisistratus were captured while being secretly removed 
out of the country ; and when this happened, all their matters were 
thereby cast into confusion, and they surrendered — receiving back 
their children on the terms which the Athenians desired, namely 
that they should depart out of Attica within five days. After this they 
departed out of the country, and went to Si-gei'um (a colony they had 
estabhshed) on the Sca-man'der (510 b.c.)."^ 

84. Isagoras and Cleisthenes (510-508 B.C.) — ''After the over- 
throw of the tyranny the rival leaders in the state were I-sag'o-ras, 
a partisan of the tyrants, and Cleisthenes, who belonged to the family 
^ §§ 92-94- ^ Herodotus v. 65. 



Cleisthenes 93 

of the Alcmeonidae. Cleisthenes, being beaten by means of the polit- 
ical clubs, attracted the people to his side by promising the franchise 
to the masses. Thereupon Isagoras, finding himself left inferior in 
power, invited Cleomenes, who was united with him by ties of hospi- 
tality, to return to Athens, and persuaded him to ' drive out the pollu- 
tion,' on a plea derived from the fact that the Alcmeonidae were 
supposed to be under the curse of pollution.^ Then Cleisthenes, 
with a few of his adherents, retired from the country, and Cleom- 
enes expelled as polluted seven hundred Athenian families. Hav- 
ing effected this he next attempted to dissolve the Council (of Four 
Hundred), and to set up Isagoras and three hundred of his partisans 
as the supreme power in the state. The council, however, resisted, 
the populace flocked together, and Cleomenes and Isagoras, with 
their adherents, took refuge in the Acropolis. Here the people sat 
down and besieged them two days ; and on the third they agreed to 
let Cleomenes and all his followers depart, while they sent to summon 
Cleisthenes and the other exiles back to Athens. When the people 
had thus obtained the command of affairs, Cleisthenes was their chief 
and leader." ^ 

True to his promise, Cleisthenes (508 B.C.) thoroughly reformed 
the government, with the object (i) of mingling all classes of people 
together on the public registers of citizens that the humble and the 
high-born might enjoy an equal right to vote, and (2) of putting an 
end to the feuds among the Plain, Shore, and Hills.^ To accompHsh 
these ends he first divided Attica into more than a hundred demes, 
or townships, which he then arranged in thirty groups, termed trit'- 
ty-es, all as equal as possible in population. Ten of these trittyes 
were on the Shore, ten in the Plain, and ten on the Hills. Of the 
trittyes he formed ten tribes by drawing for each tribe a trittys from 
the Plain, Shore, and Hills respectively. By dividing the three sec- 
tions equally among the ten tribes he destroyed the local organiza- 
tions, and thus put an end to the strife among them. And though 

^ § 72. 2 Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 20. s §§ ^2, 80. 



94 Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy 

the nobles had controlled the old tribes, the commons were on a 
political level with them in the new. Cleisthenes was successful in 
his plans ; the people were thereafter more nearly equal than they 
had been before, and sectional warfare entirely ceased. 

He substituted a Council of Five Hundred — - fifty from each tribe 
— in place of the Four Hundred ; and he provided that there should 
be ten generals, one for each tribe.' 

85. The Constitution of Athens as reformed by Cleisthenes.- — 
After he had made these changes and some others of less importance, 
the constitution of Athens had the following form : — 

I. Territorial Divisions. 

Ten tribes, thirty trittyes, more than one hundred demes; nearly the same 
as the counties, townships, etc., of a modern state. 

II. The Four Census Classes as before (§ 78, II). 

III. The Magistrates. 

1. The nine archons as before (§ 78, III); they gradually decline in im- 

portance as the more popular offices develop. 

2. The ten generals, one from each tribe. They lead the ten tribal regi- 

ments and form a council of war under the polemarch. The generals 
gradually grow in authority at the expense of the archons till they 
become the chief magistrates. 

IV. The Councils. 

1. Of the Areopagus. 

Composition and duties as before (§ 78, IV) ; but the popular meas- 
ures of Cleisthenes drive it into the background. It comes again to 
the front in the war with Persia, and thereafter (480-462 B.C.) 
gradually declines as the democratic institutions (the assembly, 
popular courts, and the Council of Five Hundred) grow. 

2. Of the Five Hundred (in place of the Four Hundred; § 78, IV), fifty 

drawn by lot from the candidates presented by each tribe. 
(a) Organization. — These ten groups of councillors take turns in man- 
aging the business of the council, each for a prytany, or tenth of 
a year. The fifty men on duty for a given time are called pryt'a- 
neis ("foremen"), and their chairman, who is chs^nged daily, is 

^ Though there were generals before Cleisthenes — one for each of the four 
tribes — the office did not come into prominence till after his time. 
2 § 78. n. 2. 



Constitiitioji 95 

an e-pis'ia-tes. He presides also over the entire council for the 

short time it meets each clay, and over the assembly. 

(i5) Functions. — It prepares decrees for presentation to the assembly, 

and gradually takes the place of the Council of the Areopagus as 

the chief supervisory and administrative power in the state. 

V. The Assembly (regularly meeting once in a f Composition and functions 

prytany). ' as before (§ 77); they 

VI. The Popular Supreme Court (meeting but -i begin to take a far more 

a few times each year). active part in the govern- 



L 



ment. 



VII. Form of Government. 

1. Aristocratic elements. 

(a) Council of the Areopagus (because it is filled by wealthy men who 

hold their places for life). 
(/') High property qualifications of the archons. 
(f) Filling the archonships by election (rather than by lot). 
(<f) Absence of pay for most public duties. 

2. Democratic elements. 

(«) Assembly and popular court (because they are composed of all the 

citizens). 
(^) Council of Five Hundred (as it is filled by lot, the poor have an 

equal chance of appointment with the rich). 

3. Summary. — Though the constitution contains some aristocratic elements, 

it may now be termed a moderate democracy (§ 78, VII). 



Cleisthenes introduced a peculiar institution termed " ostracism." 
The word is derived from os'ira-kon, piece of pottery, which was the 
form of ballot used in the process. Once a year, if the assembly saw 
fit, the citizens met and voted against any of their number whom 
they deemed dangerous to the state. If the archons found, on count- 
ing the votes, that there were at least six thousand in all, they sent 
the man who had received the greatest number into exile for ten years. 
As the Athenian noble lacked respect for the government, he would 
not, when defeated in his candidacy for office, submit to the will of 
the majority, but preferred rather in defiance of law to destroy his 
more fortunate rival. Ostracism removed the dangerous man from 
the community, and left at the head of the state the one whom the 
people believed to be the best and ablest. 



96 Development of Athens from Kingship to Democracy 

86. Summary of Athenian History (753-508 B.C.) We have now 

followed the history of Athens through a period of two hundred 
and fifty years. (i) The kingship gave way to an aristocracy 
(753 B.C.), in which the nobles greatly oppressed the lower class. 
(2) Some tinie^ before Solon men of wealth gained equal political 
privileges with those of noble birth. (3) Draco (621 B.C.) gave the 
citizens the advantage of written laws. (4) Solon (594 B.C.) freed the 
masses from serfdom and provided them with the means of protecting 
themselves. (5) Pisistratus and his sons (560-510 B.C.) crushed the 
nobles and introduced an orderly government. (6) The great re- 
forms of Cleisthenes in favor of liberty and equality filled the citizens 
with patriotism, and encouraged them to defend their country and 
freedom, not only against unfriendly neighbors, but also against the 
enormous armies of Persia which were soon to invade Greece. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Society and Government in the Time of Homer. — Gladstone, Hotner 
(primer) pp. 106-120; Botsford, Greece, ^•^. IO-15; Development of the Athenian 
Constitution, pp. 111-122; Holm, History of Greece, i. ch. xiv. 

II. Solon. — Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 5-12; Plutarch, Solon; Bots- 
ford, Greece, pp. 50-56; Bury, History of Greece, pp. 180-189. 

III. Pisistratus and his Sons. — Aristotle, 13-19; Botsford, Greece, pp. 70- 
80; Atheniaji Constitution, ch. x; Yio\m, History of Greece, \. ch.yxwW; Curtius. 
History of Greece, Bk. II. ch. ii. 

IV. Cleisthenes. — Aristotle, 20, 21 ; Bury, pp. 211-215; 'Qo'VaioxA, Athenian 
Constitution, cti. xi. 

1 About 650 B.C. 



CHAPTER VI 



SPARTA AND THE PELOPONNESIAN LEAGUE (about 750-500 B.C.) 



87. Perioeci and Helots. — Laconia, like Attica, once contained 
several independent cities ; but Sparta, the strongest, gradually 
conquered the others and brought 
them all into one state.^ Though 
she permitted them to manage 
their local affairs, in every other 
respect she kept them in subjec- 
tion. The inhabitants of these 
conquered towns were per-i-oe'ci 
— " dwellers around." As the 
Spartans had taken their best 
lands from them, many devoted 
themselves to commerce and in- 
dustry. In war they served 
Sparta as heavy-armed troops,^ 
and their condition was at first 
happy ; but after a time Sparta 
deprived some of them of their 
independence by sending military 
governors to rule them. 

Far worse was the condition 
of the conquered villagers and country people. They were he'lots 
(state serfs) who tilled the fields of the Spartans, bringing their lords 

i§68. 

2 A heavy-armed soldier wore a shield, a helmet, a breastplate of leather or 
felt, — sometimes plated with metal, — and greaves, which covered the front of 
H 97 




A Spartan Tombstone 



98 Sparta and the Pcloponncsian League 

a fixed annual amount of grain, oil, and wine. As cruel treatment 
continually goaded them to rebellion, they were always suspected 
by the government. The most prudent young men of Sparta, form- 
ing a secret police, used to go one by one through the country to 
kill any helots whom they thought dangerous. Those, on the other 
hand, who served the state well in war often received their freedom. 
88. The Spartans ; their Training. — As the Spartans persisted in 
keeping the helots and the perioeci in subjection, they had to give 
their whole attention to military training, so as to be able to enforce 
obedience. It was necessary in the first place that every Spartan 
should have a sound body. " A father had not the right of bringing 
up his child, but had to carry it to a certain place . . . where the 
elders of the tribe sat in judgment upon it. If they thought it well- 
built and strong, they ordered the father to bring it up, and assigned 
one of the nine thousand lots of land to it ; but if it was mean-looking 
or misshapen, they sent it away to a place called the Exposure, a glen 
on the side of Mount Taygetus ; for they considered that if a child 
did not start in possession of health and strength, it was better both 
for itself and for the state that he should not live at all. . . . Lycur- 
gus ^ would not entrust the Spartan boys to any bought or hired ser- 
vants, nor was each man allowed to bring up and educate his sons as 
he chose, but as soon as they were seven years of age he himself^ 
received them from their parents and enrolled them in companies. 
In these they lived and messed together, and were associated for play 

the legs below the knees. His chief weapons of offence were the sword and pii<e 
or spear. Some light troops carried a small shield; others had no defensive 
armor. Some were armed with bows and arrows, others with slings, and others 
with short spears (javelins) for hurling. 

1 § 46. Plutarch, who writes this account of Spartan life, supposes Lycurgus 
to have been the author of all these arrangements; but in fact Lycurgus is myth- 
ical, and the education of the Spartans was forced upon them by circum- 
stances. To correct Plutarch we should substitute "the government " or " the 
authorities " for " Lycurgus." 

2 " Lycurgus," that is, the rulers; see note above. 



spartan Training 99 

and for work. . . . The elder men watched them at their play, 
and by mstituting fights and trials of strength carefully learned which 
was the bravest and most enduring. 

"They learned to read, because that was necessary, but all the 
rest of their education was meant to teach them to obey with cheer- 
fulness, and to endure toil, and to win battles. As they grew older 
their training became more severe ; their hair was closely cut, and 
they were taught to go about without shoes and to play unclad. 
After their twelfth year they wore no tunic, but received one garment 
for all the year round. They could not help being dirty, for they 
had no warm baths nor ointments, except as a luxury on certain days. 
All slept together in troops and companies, on beds of rushes which 
they had picked up on the banks of the Eurotas. . . . Their educa- 
tion in poetry and music was no less carefully watched over than 
their cleverness and purity of speech, but their songs were such as 
rouse men's blood and stir them to deeds of prowess, composed 
in plain, unaffected language, upon noble and edifying subjects. 
Most of them were eulogies upon those who had been happy enough 
to die for their country, reproaches of cowards for living a miserable 
life, and encouragements to bravery suitable to those of all ages. 

" During a ca?npatgn the rulers made the young men perform less 
severe gymnastic exercises, and allowed them to hve a freer life in 
other respects, so that for them alone of all mankind, war was felt as 
a relief from preparation for war. When the array ^ was formed and 
the enemy were in sight, the king used to sacrifice a kid, and bid 
them all put on garlands, and the pipers play the hymn . . . 
Then he himself began to sing the paean for the charge, so that it 
was a magnificent and terrible spectacle to see the men marching 

1 This is a description of \.h& pha'lanx, — a line of warriors with strong defen- 
sive armor and long spears, — which moved as a unit to the music of flutes. It 
was invented by the Spartans, probably in the eighth century B.C., and afterward 
developed in various ways by other Greek states and by the early Romans; §§ 1 75, 
186, 227. 

L.ofC. 



lOO 



Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 



in time to the flutes, making no gap in their hnes, with no thought 
of fear, but quietly and steadily moving to the sound of music against 
the enemy. Such men were not hkely to be either panic-stricken 

or over-confident, but had a cool 
and cheerful courage, believing that 
the gods were with them. . . . 

''Ample leisure was one of the 
blessings with which Lycurgus pro- 
vided his countrymen, by forbidding 
them to practise any mechanical 
art ; at the same time money-mak- 
ing and business were unnecessary, 
because wealth was disregarded and 
despised." ^ 

This gymnastic and military train- 
ing continued to the sixtieth year. 
Neither boys, youths, nor men had 
any home life, but ate at public 
tables. " They formed themselves 
into messes of fifteen or less. Each 
member contributed monthly a 
bushel of barley, eight measures of 
wine, five pounds of cheese, and 
half as much figs ; and in addition 
to this a very small sum of money 
to buy fish and other luxuries for a 
relish to the bread. This was all 
except when a man had offered a 
sacrifice, or been hunting, and sent a portion to the public table. 
For persons were allowed to dine at home whenever they were late 
for dinner on account of a sacrifice or a hunting expedition. . . . 

^ The Spartans used iron money only; all other kinds were forbidden by law; 
Plutarch, Lycurgus, 15-23, 




A Winner in the Girls' Foot 

RACES IN Elis 

(Vatican Museum, Rome. To illus- 
trate the figure and dress of a Spar- 
tan maiden) 



Government loi 

" The * black broth ' was the most esteemed of their luxuries, inso- 
much that the elderly men did not care for any meat, but always 
handed it over to the young, and regaled themselves on this broth." ^ 

89. "Women. — Maidens passed through a training like that of the 
youths, though less severe. They, too, practised running, leaping, 
and throwing the spear and discus. The state encouraged them to 
such exercise, as it considered the gymnastic education of women 
necessary to the physical perfection of the race. While the mature 
Spartan continued to eat in the barracks and to pass his time in 
severe exercises, his wife lived in comfort and luxury. There is a 
story that Lycurgus, after subjecting the men to discipHne, tried to 
make the women orderly, but failed, and therefore permitted them 
to live as they pleased. 

90. The Government. — The state ruled by Sparta was called 
Lacedaemon ; and the Spartans, perioeci, and helots were alike 
Lacedaemonians. The Spartans, however, were the only fully 
privileged citizens. We have already noticed that the state was 
governed by two kings?' They were nearly always quarrelling with 
each other, and hence their rule was weak. The assembly, on the 
other hand, was strong, as it was composed of all the mature Spartans 
who served in the army. Now while the kings were spending their 
energy in wrangling, the assembly was taking to itself most of their 
powers. It did not exercise this authority directly, however, but 
intrusted it to a board of five epJiors (overseers) elected annually 
in the assembly by acclamation. In time the ephors placed 
themselves at the head of the state, while the kings came to be no 
more than priests and generals. 

The council consisted of twenty-eight elders and the two kings, all 
representing noble families. Both the council and the kings lost 
influence so rapidly that at the time Solon was making laws for the 
Athenians, the Lacedaemonian government, though a kingship in 
name, was in reality an aristocracy. The aristocrats were the 
^ Plutarch, Lycurgus, ii, ^ % A^b. 



102 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

Spartans, never more than nine thousand in all, who ruled over the 
many perioeci and helots. 

91. The Messenian Wars (about 725 and 650 B.C.^). — After the 
Spartans had subdued all Laconia, a desire "to plough and plant 
fertile Messenia" led them to the conquest of that country. In fact 
they needed more land and helots to support the increasing number 
of their warrior citizens. After twenty years of hard fighting they 
drove the Messenians from the stronghold of Mount Ithome,^ and 
took possession of the country. Many Messenians went into exile ; 
those who remained became helots and were compelled to till their 
own fields for the Spartans. Years afterward their grandsons rebelled, 
and with the help of neighboring states they brought proud Sparta to 
the verge of ruin. At this crisis Tyr-tae'us,^ through his poems, encour- 
aged the Spartans after defeat to renew the war with such energy as 
to force again upon the Messenians the hard yoke of slavery. These 
two struggles are known as the Messenian Wars. 

92. The Peloponnesian League. — Next the Lacedaemonian rulers 
asked of Apollo at Delphi permission to conquer all Arcadia ; but the 
prophetess answered — 

" The land of Arcadia thou askest : thou askest too much; I refuse it: 
Many there are in Arcadian land, stout men eating acorns; 
These will prevent thee from this: but I am not grudging toward thee; 
Te'ge-a beaten with sounding feet I will give thee to dance in, 
And a fair plain will I give thee to measure with line and divide it." 

Tegea, however, made the oracle true by defeating the Lacedae- 
monians and compelling the prisoners to divide her plain among 
themselves with a measuring line, and till it in fetters. But some- 
what later the Tegeans entered into a league with Sparta and agreed 
to follow her lead in war. Their example was imitated by the other 
Arcadians, who proved a source of great military strength to Sparta, 
for they were strong, brave men, as mountaineers usually are, and 
made excellent warriors, second only to the Spartans themselves. 

1 The exact dates are unknown. ^ § 38. ^ § 96. 



TJie Pcloponnesian Lcagiie 



103 



Lacedaemon had already allied herself with Elis ; and afterward 
Corinth and Sicyon (pron. Sish'i-on) entered the league. Under 
able tyrants these cities had gained greatly in commerce and in 
military strength. The men of wealth who overthrew the tyrants in 
both cities made the alliance with Sparta on the assurance that they 
should themselves have control of their states. And in general 
Sparta desired that her allies should be governed by oligarchies ' ; 
because she knew that oligarchs would be more loyal to her than 
either tyrants or democrats. 




THE 

PELOPONNESIAX 
LEAGUE 

E3. States dependent upon Sparta 
^ Statet in alliance with Sparta 



The Peloponnesian League, which Sparta was thus forming, had 
no common federal constitution, such as that of the United States, 
but each community had its own treaty with Lacedaemon. Deputies 
from the allied states met in congress at Sparta or Corinth to settle 
questions of war and peace ; and the states furnished troops to serve 
in war under the Lacedaemonian kings. They did not pay tribute 
to Sparta, but divided among themselves the expenses of the league, 
which were always light. Thus the states enjoyed independence 
and at the same time the advantages of union. 

1 An oligarchy is the " rule of the few." Where the '^ few " are of noble birth, 
the oligarchy is an aristocracy. 



104 Sparta and the P eloponnesian League 

93. Sparta and Argos. — By the middle of the sixth century B.C. 
the league under the leadership of Sparta had come to include all 
Peloponnese excepting Achaea and Argolis. Toward the close of the 
prehistoric age Argos had taken the place of Mycenae as the head of 
Argolis, and under Pheidon, a briUiant king who reigned about 700 B.C., 
she aspired to rule all Peloponnese. After his death, however, she 
declined ; and though she retained her old ambition for leadership, 
it became more and more difficult for her to hold her own against 
Sparta. About 550 b.c. the crisis came in a struggle between the two 
states for the possession of Cy-nu'ri-a, a strip of land held by Argos 
along the coast east of Mount Parnon. Three hundred champions 
for each state were to decide the contest ; but after a day's fighting, 
only two Argives and one Spartan remained alive. Then a dispute 
as to which side had won the victory ended in a bloody battle, in 
which the Lacedaemonians were masters. This success gave them 
Cynuria and the island of Cy-the'ra and made them the foremost 
power among the states of Greece. 

94. Sparta and Athens. — The Lacedaemonians advanced steadily 
in strength. Toward the end of the sixth century Megara joined 
their alliance. They aimed to extend their influence, especially by 
helping the nobles of various Greek states against the tyrants. 
Accordingly when the oracle at Delphi constantly told them that 
Athens must be set free,^ Cleomenes, their king, undertook the 
work of expelling Hippias, doubtless in the hope that the Lacedaemo- 
nians would be able to control Athens after she had been liberated. 

Disappointed in this hope, he gathered the forces of Peloponnese, 
and without stating his object, led them into Attica, while the Thebans 
and Chalcidians invaded the country in concert with him. Though 
inferior in number, the x^thenians marched bravely forth to meet the 
Peloponnesians at Eleusis. Fortunately for Athens, the Corinthians, 
on learning the purpose of the expedition, refused to take part 
in it on the ground that it was unjust, and the other allies followed 

^ § 83. 



Condition of Greece 105 

their example. As Cleomenes could then do nothing but retreat 
homeward, the Athenians turned about and defeated the Thebans 
and the Chalcidians separately on the same day. They punished 
Chalcis for the invasion by taking from her a large tract of land, on 
which they settled four thousand colonists. An Athenian cototiy was 
but an addition to Attica ; and though it had a local government, its 
members remained citizens of Athens. 

Some time afterward the Lacedaemonians invited Hippias to their 
city, called a congress of alHes, and proposed to restore him. But 
the deputy from Corinth interposed in favor of Athens, and as the 
other allies agreed with him, Hippias returned disappointed to Sigeium 
and continued to plot with the Persians against his native land (§ 107). 
Soon afterward the Athenians secured their peace with Sparta by 
entering the Peloponnesian League. Their place in it was excep- 
tionally favorable, as it allowed them complete independence. 

95. The Political Condition of Greece (about 500 B.C.). — At 
the close of the period which we have now reviewed (about 750-500 
B.C.), most of the Greek peninsula west and north of Boeotia was 
still occupied by barbarous or half-civilized tribes ; as yet Thebes 
had accomplished nothing remarkable, and Argos had declined. 
The Greek cities of Italy and Sicily, mostly under tyrants, 
were disunited and weak ; those of Asia Minor, as the following 
chapter will tell, acknowledged the Persian king as their master. 
Athens and Sparta had achieved more for the political development 
of Greece than any other cities. Attica was firmly united under a 
moderate democracy. At last the citizens were at peace with one 
another. They formed an effective militia, though as yet they had 
no fleet. They were intelligent, vigorous, and enthusiastic, ready for 
a life and death struggle if need be, in defence of Hellenic freedom. 
Though less active and less intelligent, the Spartans were the best 
trained and the steadiest soldiers in the world, and were prepared by 
lifelong discipline for facing death at the command of their country ; 
they and their allies formed the great military power of Hellas. It 



io6 Sparta and the Peloponnesian League 

was well that Athens and the Peloponnesian League had made so 
much progress in government and in military affairs, for they were 
soon to be called on to match themselves, almost unaided, with the 
vast strength of the Persian empire. 

Literature, Philosophy, and Art ^ 

96. Hesiod ; Personal Poetry ( 700-479 B.C. ). — While the Greeks 
were improving their armies and their governments, they were mak- 
ing progress in literature and art, and beginning philosophy. 

Hes'i-od, an epic poet of Boeotia (about 700 b.c), composed the 
The-o^o-ny, which tells in homely style of the birth of the gods 
and of the creation of the world. His Works and Days, another 
epic, gives the peasant useful information about agriculture, includ- 
ing the lucky and unlucky days for doing everything. It encourages 
thrift and abounds in moral maxims. Whereas Homer idealizes 
everything of which he sings, the aim of Hesiod is to tell the simple 
truth. Homer celebrates heroes of the remote past ; Hesiod has to 
do with men in everyday life. 

The early epics have little to tell of their authors ; but in time it 
came about that poets expressed freely their own thoughts and feel- 
ings. Thus personal poetry arose. The age in which it flourished 
extends from the time of Hesiod to the end of the great war with 
Persia (700-479 B.C.). 

The elegy is the earliest form of personal poetry. It arose in Ionia 
and was originally martial, sung to the flute, which resembles the 
modern clarinet. One of the earliest elegiac poets was Cal-li'nus 
of Eph'e-sus, born about 690 B.C. In battle-songs he roused his 
countrymen against a horde of invaders — 

" Each must go quick to the front, 
Grasping his spear in his hand and under his shield his untrembling 
Heart pressing, panting for fight, mingling in deadliest fray." 

1 Those teachers who wish to follow the political narrative without interrup- 
tion may omit §§ 96-98. 



Lyric Poetry 



107 



A little later, Tyrtaeus^ of Sparta composed songs of the same 
nature. 

The next form of personal poetry was the iambic, especially adapted 
to the expression of emotions, from love to sarcasm and hate. Its 
great master was Ar-chil'o-chus of the small island of Paros, a poet 
whom the Greeks ranked with Homer. He was the first great satirist. 
The story goes that a certain man promised his daughter, Ne-o-bu'le, 
to Archilochus in marriage, but broke his word ; and then in revenge 
the poet with his biting iambics drove Neobule and her sisters to 
suicide. 

The last and highest form of personal poetry is the lyric, — the 
song accompanied by the lyre. The lyric poet composed the music 
as well as the words of his 
songs. There were two chief 
forms of this poetry : the ballad 
and the choral ode. The 
home of the ballad was Lesbos, 
and its great representatives 
were the Lesbic poets, Al-cae'us 
and Sappho (pron. Saf'fo),who 
belonged to the early part of 
the sixth century B.C. Alcaeus 
was "a fiery Aeolian noble," 
who composed songs of war, 
adventure, and party strife, 
love-songs, drinking-songs, and 
hymns. He was a versatile, Sappho 

brilliant poet. "Violet- (National Museum, Rome) 

crowned, pure, softly smiling Sappho," as her friend Alcaeus calls her, 
was his peer in genius. To the ancients she was " the poetess " as 
Homer was "the poet " ; and sometimes they styled her the " tenth 
muse." 



^^•^ 


^^^^H 


n 


F, ^'S^^^^l 


^^k 




^^^^k 


[Hk. >^ ^l^^l 


1 


^K^^^^^^ 



§91. 



■m^sMi^s^s- 



An Ionic Column 



Sparta and the Peloponnesian Leagtce 

Ballads were simple songs sung by in- 
dividuals ; but the choral ode was public 
and was sung by a trained chorus, who 
accompanied the music with dancing. 
The most eminent choral poet — perhaps 
the greatest purely lyric poet of the world 
— was Pindar of Boeotia (522-448 B.C.). 
As he belonged to a priestly family, he 
began even in childhood to fill his mind 
with myths and religious lore. His poems 
are made up of this material. Those which 
have been preserv-ed are in honor of the 
victors in the great national games. The 
ode usually narrates some myth connected 
with the history of the victor's family or 
city; it glorifies noble birth, well-used 
wealth, justice, and all manner of virtue. 
Though difficult to read even in transla- 
tions, these poems will repay the most 
careful study. The style is bold, rapid, 
and vital ; his words glitter like jewels ; 
he is always sublime. 

Besides the poets mentioned there were 
many others who flourished in all parts 
of Greece. The works of some have ut- 
terly perished ; of others we have mere 
shreds. There remain but fragments of 
Archilochus and Alcaeus. We have two 
poems of Sappho, in addition to fragments, 
and nearly a complete elegy by Callinus. 
Pindar has had the best fortune of all 
the poets of this age, for his best work 
has come down to us. 



Architecture 



109 



97. The Beginnings of Philosophy. — The first philosopher was 
Tha'les, who Hved at the time of Solon. He was a mathematician 
and astronomer, the first of the Greeks to predict accurately an 
eclipse of the sun. In his belief water was the one original substance 
out of which the world was formed. His idea was wrong ; but in 
seeking a natural cause of things he advanced far beyond all earher 
thinkers, who had contented themselves with mythical explanations 
of the world. Those who accepted his 
view formed the Ionian school of thought. 

After him came other philosophers and 
schools of philosophy. Py-thag'o-ras, who 
laid great stress on mathematics, had many 
followers, who called themselves Py-thag- 
o-re'ans after their master. Another 
school, arising in this period, studied deeply 
into the nature of being. Thus the Greeks 
were making a beginning of philosophy and 
science, in which they were afterward to 
become the teachers of the world. 

98. Art; Architecture and Sculpture 
(700-479 B.C.). — To understand the 
structure of the Greek temple, it is nec- 
essary first to notice the three orders of 
architecture, — Doric, Ionic, and Corin- 
thian. They are distinguished chiefly by 
the column. The Doric column rests di- 
rectly upon the temple floor, and has a 
simple, unadorned capital.-^ The Ionic 
column stands on an ornamental base and is surmounted by a capi- 
tal in the form of a spiral roll. The beauty of the Doric style is 
severe and chaste ; the Ionic is finer and more graceful. The former 
prevailed in European Greece ; the latter in Asia Minor. The Cor- 

^ The capital is the head of the column. 




Section of a Temple at 

Segesta 
(To illustrate the Doric order) 



no 



Sparta and the Peloponncsian League 



inthian order, with its capital of acanthus leaves, is still more elegant 
and ornamental than the Ionic. It was invented in the fifth century 
B.C., but did not come into extensive use till the Greek genius began 
to decline. 

At first the Greeks did not imagine that their gods needed dwell- 
ing-houses, but as early as the seventh century B.C. they were build- 
ing temples in all their cities. Some of the ruins at Se-li'nus,' 
Sicily, belong to the latter part of this century. Gradually the 
temples grew more and more symmetrical and graceful till they 
became models of beauty. That of Poseidon in Fo-si-do'ni-a, 
southern Italy, belongs to the sixth century.^ It is an impressive 

building with simple but 
massive Doric columns. 
The stone of which it is 
made is called travertine. 
As it is not so fine and smooth 
as marble, it was originally 
covered with stucco, which 
was then painted. Most 
of the stucco has fallen off", 
and the stone has changed 
to a rich, soft yellow of 
varying shade. Standing 
on a slight elevation, the 
temple faces the market- 
place on the east. Be- 
tween the market and the 
temple the way was paved 
with stones, in which the myriads of feet that have walked to and fro 
for hundreds of years have worn deep paths. 

There are two principal kinds of sculpture, — reliefs and statues. 
Reliefs are figures carved on the surface of stone. They are 
^§157- ^P-65. 




Corinthian Capital 
(From Epidaurus) 



Sculpture 1 1 1 

adapted especially to the decoration of three parts of the temple, — 
(i) pediments, or gables, (2) met'o-pes, the flat squares which run 
in a series round the exterior of the temple above the columns, and 
(3) the frieze, a flat surface forming a continuous band around the 
temple within the colonnade. 

Some of the metopes from a temple at Selinus, now in the Museum 
of Pa-ler'mo, Sicily, were made about 600 B.C. One represents Per- 
seus cutting off" Medusa's head.^ Behind him stands his protecting 
goddess Athena. The work is very crude. The heads, arms, and 
legs are much too large ; the bodies are distorted ; the eyes stare ; 
the faces lack expression. Equally rude are the statues carved at 
the time. It is a wonderful fact that within the next hundred and 
fifty years the Greeks were to bring sculpture from these crude 
beginnings to a height of perfection never afterward reached in the 
history of the world. And in the study of Grecian history from this 
period onward it is well to keep in mind the rapidity with which the 
Greeks made improvements in nearly every field of thought and 
action. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Spartan Education. — Plutarch, Lyairgus, 15-21; Bury, History of 
Greece, pp. 130-134; Abbott, History of Greece, i. pp. 211-217. 

II. The Social Classes. — Abbott, i. pp. 217-219; Holm, History of Greece, 
i. pp. 178-180. 

III. The Peloponnesian League. — Bury, pp. 202-204; Greenidge, Greek 
Constitutional History, ■^'p. 108-I15; Gilbert, Constitutional Antiquities of Sparta 
and Athens, pp. 81-91. 

^§45- 



CHAPTER VII 

CONQUEST OF ASIATIC GREECE BY THE LYDIANS AND THE 
PERSIANS (560-490 B.C.) 

99. Character of the lonians. — Although successful in developing 
government and the art of war, the Athenians as well as the Lacedae- 
monians were thus far inferior to the Greeks of Asia Minor in the 
finer elements of civilization. Aeolis and Ionia were the home of 
the first great poets of Greece. The earhest geographers, histori- 
ans, and philosophers were lonians. The same people took the lead 
in useful inventions : the lonians were the first of the Greeks to coin 
money ; their ships plied the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to 
Massalia, and from Gyrene to their colonies on the Black Sea. 
For five hundred years (about 1000-494 B.C.) they were the standard- 
bearers of Hellenic civilization. 

But though admirable for their many^ excellent qualities, the 
lonians were lacking in political ability. There was civil strife 
within the cities, and almost continual war between one state and 
another. Cities and men had their own ideals and pursued their own 
plans, regardless of the interests of the country as a whole. The 
communities rarely acted together, and could not think of joining 
in one strong state. They loved complete independence for their 
towns and enjoyed the privilege of making war on their neighbors as 
the diversion of a summer ; yet they were a commercial people, not 
fond of long-continued military service. Their character was their 
political ruin. It is no wonder that they proved inferior to the 
empires of Asia, based as these were on unthinking submission to 
one all-controlling will. 



Croesus 1 1 3 

100. Croesus, King of Lydia (560-546 B.C.) and C3rru8, King of 
Persia (558-529 B.C.). — As long as there was no great foreign power 
in their neighborhood, these Asiatic Greeks remained free. But 
gradually Lydia, in the interior, became a strong state. Croe'sus, 
who ascended the throne of this country in 560 b.c, admired the 
Greeks and wished to have them as willing subjects; but when they 
resisted, he waged war upon them and conquered them with no great 
difificulty. He ruled them well, however, as he sought to gain their 
favor and support against the rising power of Persia. He stole his 
way into their affections by making costly presents to their gods, 
especially to Apollo at Delphi. He courted the friendship of Lace- 
daemon, the strongest state in Greece, and gave the Spartans gold 
with which to make a statue of Apollo. Under Croesus, Lydia 
reached its height in wealth and power. His treasury was full of 
gold dust from the sands of the Lydian rivers and of tributes from 
the cities he had conquered ; and as he was the wealthiest he sup- 
posed himself to be the happiest man on earth. His empire had 
come to include all Asia Minor west of the Halys River ; but it was 
destined soon to become a part of the far vaster Persian empire, and 
the happy monarch was doomed to end his life in captivity. 

Croesus had ruled Lydia but two years when Cyrus ^ became King 
of Persia, then a province of the Median empire. He was a great 
general and statesman, and his Persian subjects were brave, strong 
mountaineers.^ Cyrus threw off the Median yoke, conquered the 
Median empire, and made Persia the leading state in Asia. Baby- 
lonia, Egypt, Lacedaemon, and Lydia united against him ; but Cyrus 
was too quick to allow his enemies to bring their forces together. 
Marching rapidly against Croesus, the Persian king conquered him, 
took him captive for life, and added the Lydian empire to his own. 

Cyrus then returned to the East, leaving his lieutenant Har'pa-gus 
to conquer the Greeks of Asia Minor. As the cities would not unite 
in defence of freedom, they fell one by one into his hands. Some of 
I 1 § 26. - § 29. 



114 Conquest of Asiatic Greece 

the inhabitants sailed away to found colonies where they could be 
free, but most of them surrendered when attacked by Harpagus. 

101. Cambyses and Darius, Kings of Persia (529-522, 522-485 B.C.). 
— The Persian yoke was far more oppressive than the Lydian 
had been. For the king of Persia insisted that the Greek cities 
should be ruled by tyrants, through whom he expected to keep his 
new subjects obedient ; and in addition to the payment of tribute 
they now had to serve in the Persian armies. Cambyses, son and 
successor of Cyrus, required them accordingly to help him conquer 
Egypt. And when Darius, the following king, was preparing to invade 
Europe at the head of a great army,^ he ordered the tyrants of 
the Greek cities to furnish six hundred ships and their crews for his 
use. He crossed the Bosporus on a bridge of boats arranged for 
him by a Greek engineer. Meanwhile the tyrants with their fleet 
sailed up the Danube and bridged the river with their boats that 
Darius might be able to cross ; for he was marching against the 
Scyth'i-ans, a people without settled homes, who roamed about in the 
country north of the Danube and the Black Sea. It was galling to 
the Greeks to perform such compulsory service, as they felt it a 
shame to be slaves of the Persians while their kinsmen in Europe 
were free. Even some of the tyrants, voicing the spirit of their 
subjects, proposed to cut off the return of Darius by breaking up the 
bridge he had left in their keeping. Mil-ti'a-des, an Athenian, who 
was then tyrant of Cher-so-nese', a dependency of Athens, favored the 
plan; but His-ti-ae'us, despot of Miletus, persuaded the tyrants that 
the people would depose them if they should lose the support of the 
Persian king, and in this manner he led them to vote against the 
proposal. 

102. The Ionic Revolt (499-494 B.C.). — The king rewarded His- 
tiaeus for his loyalty with a grant of land on the Stry'mon River in 
Thrace, and afterward required him to come to Susa, to pass the 

1 The estimate of Herodotus iv. 87, is seven hundred thousand men — doubt- 
less a great exaggeration. 



Aristagoras 115 

remainder of his life as a courtier in the palace. To the ambitious 
Greek the life at court was no better than exile. Desiring therefore 
to return to his native land, he sent a secret message to his son-in- 
law, Ar-is-tag'o-ras, then tyrant of Miletus, urging him to revolt. 
The latter needed Httle pressure from his father-in-law, for he was 
already thinking of taking this step. He had promised the Persians 
to conquer Naxos, and had received help from them on this assur- 
ance ; but failing in his attempt, he now felt that he should be punished 
for not keeping his word. He decided accordingly to take the lead 
in a revolt which he knew was threatening. His first step was to 
resign his tyranny and give Miletus a democratic government. He 
then helped depose the tyrants of the neighboring cities, and in a 
few weeks all Ionia followed him in a rebeUion against Darius. 

Aristagoras spent the next winter in looking about for allies. First 
he went to Sparta and addressed King Cleomenes as follows : " That 
the sons of the lonians should be slaves instead of free is a reproach 
and grief most of all indeed for ourselves, but of all others most to 
you, inasmuch as ye are the leaders of Hellas. Now, therefore, I en- 
treat you by the gods of Hellas to rescue from slavery the lonians, 
who are your own kinsmen : and ye may easily achieve this, for the 
foreigners are not valiant in fight, whereas ye have attained to the 
highest point of valor in war : and their fighting is of this fashion, 
namely, with bows and arrows and a short spear, and they go into 
battle wearing trousers and with caps on their heads. Thus they 
may easily be conquered. Then, again, they who occupy that conti- 
nent have good things in such quantities as not all the other nations 
in the world possess ; first gold, then silver and bronze and embroi- 
dered garments and beasts of burden and slaves ; all which ye might 
have for yourselves if ye so desired." ^ 

Aristagoras then proceeded to indicate the location of the various 
Asiatic nations on a map traced on a plate of bronze, the first the 

' Herodotus v. 49. This speech gives a trutliful summary of the facts except 
in one particular, — the Persians were not cowardly; § 29. 



Ii6 Conquest of Asiatic Greece 

Spartans had ever seen. He tried to show how easily the Lacedae- 
monians could conquer the whole Persian empire. " How long a 
journey is it from the Ionian coast to the Persian capital ? " Cleom- 
enes asked. "A three months' journey," Aristagoras answered 
incautiously. " Guest- Friend from Miletus," the Spartan king inter- 
rupted, " get thee away from Sparta before the sun has set ; for thou 
speakest a word which sounds not well in the ears of the Lacedaemo- 
nians, desiring to take them on a journey of three months from the 
sea." The smooth Ionian then tried to win him with a bribe, but 
was frustrated by the king's daughter, Gorgo, a child of eight or nine 
years of age, who exclaimed, " Father, the stranger will harm thee, if 
thou do not leave him and go ! " 

Aristagoras then went to Athens, where he found his task easier. 
The Athenians were near kinsmen of the lonians and in close com- 
mercial relations with them. And recently the governor of Sardis 
had ordered the Athenians to take back Hippias as their tyrant, if 
they wished to escape destruction. They had refused, and felt in 
consequence that a state of war now existed between them and 
Persia. They therefore sent twenty ships to help the lonians, and 
their neighbor, Eretria, sent five. 

103. The War of the Revolt (498-494 B.C.).— The allies cap- 
tured and burned Sardis, the most important city under Persian con- 
trol in Asia Minor. Then as they were on their way back to Ionia, 
the Persians attacked and defeated them near Ephesus. This so 
thoroughly discouraged the Athenians that they returned home and 
would give no more help. 

The burning of Sardis encouraged the rest of the Asiatic Greeks to 
join in the revolt, but at the same time stirred Darius to greater exer- 
tions for putting it down, and angered him especially against Athens 
and Eretria. The decisive battle of the war was fought at La'de, off 
Miletus (497 B.C.). The Greeks had three hundred and fifty-three 
ships ; the Phoenicians in the service of Persia had six hundred. Yet 
the Greeks would certainly have won the day, if they had shown the 




^ 


^ 


«. 




^ - 


H 


-1 


K 







K 




H 




.Pm 





Effect of the War 117 

right spirit ; but they were disunited, and allowed themselves to be 
influenced by secret agents from the enemy. At the very opening 
of the battle, many ships treacherously sailed away, and though a few 
remained and fought bravely, the battle was lost. United resistance 
was now at an end, and the separate states were subdued one by one 
or surrendered to avoid attack. The Persians brought the war to a 
close by the capture of Miletus (494 B.C.) after a siege of four years. 
They plundered and burned the city, together with its temples, 
and carried the people into captivity. Thus they blotted out of 
existence the fairest city of Hellas, the city which up to this 
time had done most in building up European civilization. Though 
it was again inhabited by Greeks, it never regained its former 
splendor. 

104. Effect of the War on Athens. — The expedition of Darius 
into Europe had resulted in the conquest of Thrace, which how- 
ever rebelled in imitation of the lonians. After suppressing 
the Ionic revolt the Persians immediately proceeded against Thrace. 
As the Phoenician fleet approached Chersonese, Miltiades, the ruler, 
fled in his triremes loaded with wealth. Though the Phoenicians hotly 
pursued him, he came safe to Athens. He found his native city greatly 
disturbed by the recent events in Ionia. A strong party led by Hip- 
parchus, a near kinsman of Hippias, wished to secure peace with 
Darius by recalling the exiled tyrant, and if need be, by sending the 
king " earth and water," the tokens of submission. Opposed to the 
tyrant's party were the repubhcans, who upheld the form of govern- 
ment established by Cleisthenes, and were ready to fight for their 
country against Persia. As Archon for 493 B.C. they elected Them- 
is' io-cles, their leader, a man of wonderful energy and intelligence. 
Heretofore the Athenians had moored their ships in the open bay of 
Phal-e'rum, but Themistocles occupied his term of office in making 
the triple harbor of Pei-rae'us ready for a navy. He believed that 
war with Persia could not be avoided, and intended that Athens 
should have a navy-yard and a powerful fleet ; for it would be neces- 



ii8 



Conquest of Asiatic Greece 



sary to meet not only the Persian army on land, but also the com- 
bined fleets of the Phoenicians and the Asiatic Greeks on the sea. 

105. Darius plans to conquer Greece ; the Condition of Greece 
(493-490 B.C.). — While Themistocles was busy with his harbor, 
Mar-do'ni-us, son-in-law of Darius, was marching through Thrace at 
the head of a large army, accompanied by a fleet along the shore. 

In rounding Mount A'thos the 
ships were wrecked, and at the 
same time his troops were 
slaughtered by the natives. 
Mardonius expected to conquer 
the whole Greek peninsula, but 
only retook Thrace and re- 
ceived the submission of Mace- 
don. The failure of his enter- 
prise brought him into disgrace 
at the Persian court. 

Darius now made ready 
another expedition, meanwhile 
sending heralds among those 
Greek communities which were 
still free, to demand "earth and 
water." There was no need, 
Darius thought, of attacking 
those who would willingly sub- 
mit. The Athenians, however, 
threw the king's herald into a 
pit, and the Spartans dropped the one who came to them into a 
well, bidding them take earth and water thence to their lord. 
Those who advised this act must have wished to remove even the 
possibility of reconciliation with Persia ; for the Athenians and 
Spartans, by mistreating the heralds, violated the law of nations ai^d 
placed themselves beyond the pale of the great king's grace. 




" TlIEMIbTOCLES" 

(Vatican Museum, Rome) 




JEGinx 

(Temple of Athena in the distance.) 



Condition of Greece 119 

Greece was to be at a great disadvantage in the coming war with 
Persia, because her states could not bring themselves to act together. 
In most of them were strong factions which favored the Persians. 
Many of them immediately yielded through fear. Commercial jeal- 
ousy of Athens prompted Ae-gi'na to send earth and water to the 
king ; through jealousy of Sparta, Argos favored the Persian cause. 
Within the Peloponnesian League alone was unity. In the face of 
common danger men began for the first time to talk of obligations of 
loyalty to Greece, and to recognize Sparta as an authority with legal 
power to enforce loyal conduct. In this manner the patriots created 
in imagination an ideal Hellas, united and free, looking to Sparta as 
leader. She, alone of all the Greek cities, thus far had shown a 
genius for organization and command ; and it was with perfect jus- 
tice therefore that all looked to her in this crisis as the head of 
Greece. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Story of Croesus and Solon. — Herodotus i. 29-33; Plutarch, Solo7i, 
27, 28. 

II. Character of the Persians. — Rawlinson, Seven Great Monarchies, 
Fifth Monarchy, chs. iii, vi, vii; Ragozin, Story of Media, Babylon, and Persia, 
pp. 275-277. 

III. The Battle of Lade. — Herodotus vi. 6-18. 

IV. Themistocles. — Plutarch, Themistodes ; Thucydides i. 138. 




Marathon 



CHAPTER VIII 



WAR WITH PERSIA AND CARTHAGE (490-479 B.C.) 



106. Invasion of Datis and Artaphernes. — In the summer of 490 b.c. 
the Persian armament, which had long been preparing, moved west- 
ward across the Aegean Sea, receiving the submission of the islanders 
on the way. It consisted of six hundred ships carrying an army of 
perhaps sixty thousand men. Da'tis, a Mede, and Ar-ta-pher'nes, a 
kinsman of Darius, were in command. Their object was to punish 
Athens and Eretria for helping the Ionian revolt, and to conquer 
whatever territory they could for their lord. 

As the Persians came near, the Eretrians were in doubt as to what 
they should do. Some proposed to surrender, and others to flee to 
the mountains ; but finally they decided to await an attack on their 
walls. After a brave defence of six days, they were betrayed by two 
of their fellow-citizens. 



Marathon 



121 



Eretrian fugitives who brought the sad news to Athens found the 
city full of the spirit of resistance. Her heavy infantry, composed 
of landowners, was well trained in the use of arms.^ It was a happy 
omen, too, for Athens that among her generals 
for the year was Miltiades, who had proved his 
ability as ruler of Chersonese, and was well 
acquainted with Persian warfare. As soon as 
he and the other generals heard that the enemy 
were moving against Attica, they gathered their 
entire force, and despatched Phi-dip 'pi-des, a 
swift, long-distance runner, to Sparta to ask 
help. He reached Sparta, a hundred and fifty 
miles distant, the day after starting. " Men of 
Lacedaemon," he said to the authorities, " the 
Athenians beseech you to hasten to their aid, 
and not allow that state which is the most 
ancient in all Greece to be enslaved by the 
barbarians. Eretria, look you, is already 
carried away captive, and Greece weakened 
by the loss of no mean city." ^ The Lacedae- 
monians, though they wished to help the Athe- 
nians, had to wait several days before setting 
out, as a law forbade them to go to war in any 
month before the full moon. 

107. The Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). — 
After sacking Eretria, the Persians, under the 
guidance of the aged Hippias,^ landed at 
Marathon. The Athenian army, led by the 
polemarch and the ten generals, went to meet them. The polemarch 
had the nominal command, but the real leader was Miltiades. He at- 
tacked the Persians in the plain not far from the landing. When the 
Athenians had come within bow-shot of the enemy, they charged at a 
^ § 95. 2 Herodotus vi. 106. * § 94. 




The Warrior of 
Marathon " 



122 War with Persia and Carthage 

double-quick march, so anxious were they to reach the Persians with 
their spears and avoid the showers of arrows. The Persians, who were 
unprepared for fighting hand to hand, were compelled to retire to their 
ships with great loss. The Athenians " were the first of the Hel- 
lenes, so far as we know, who attacked the enemy at a run, and they 
were the first to face the Median garments and the men who wore 
them, whereas up to this time the very name of the Medes was to 
the Hellenes a terror to hear." ^ They gained this great victory 
practically by themselves ; for the Plataeans alone of their neigh- 
bors had come to their aid. The Lacedaemonians, starting after the 
full moon, reached Athens by a forced march, yet too late to be 
of service. 

This was perhaps the most important battle yet fought in the history 
of the worhi. In the wars among the great powers of the Orient, it 
made little difference to the world which gained the victory, they 
were so nearly alike in character and civilization. The same may be 
said of the petty strife always going on among the Greek states. But 
at Marathon, Europe and Asia, represented by Greece and Persia 
respectively, came into conflict ; and the question at issue was 
whether Europe should be brought under the control of Asiatic 
government and Asiatic ideas. ^ The civilizations of the opposing 
forces were totally different. The whole life of the Greek rested 
upon the political, social, and religious freedom of man, whereas that 
of the Asiatics depended upon slavish obedience to authority, — the 
authority of priests and king. It was well for the future of the 
world, therefore, that the Greeks triumphed at Marathon. They 
were no braver than the Persians; but their freedom gave them 
spirit, and their intelligence provided them with superior arms, 
organization, and training. The victory encouraged Greece to hope 

^ Herodotus vi. ii2. 

2 Had the Persians become the dominant power in Europe, they would proba- 
bly not have crushed Greek civilization, but would have hindered its extension, — 
Europe would have become Oriental. 



Miltiades 123 

for success in the greater conflict witti Persia, which was soon to 
come, and inspired the Athenians ever afterward to brave danger in 
the forefront of Hellas. 

108. The End of Miltiades. — Miltiades now stood at the summit 
of fame. He thought the present moment favorable for building up 
the Athenian power and wealth at the expense of the islanders who 
had sided with the king. So he planned an expedition against Paros, 
and asked the Athenians for ships and men, promising to make them 
rich but not telling them just what he intended to do. He sailed 
with his fleet to Paros and demanded a contribution of a hundred 
talents. As the Parians refused to pay anything, he besieged them 
without elfect for nearly a month, and then returned wounded 
to Athens, to disappoint the hopes of all. His enemies found 
in his failure an opportunity to assail him. Xan-thip'pus, leader 
of the republican party,^ prosecuted him for having deceived 
the people. The penalty would have been death ; but because of 
Miltiades' great services to the state, it was lightened to a fine of 
iifty talents. He died of his wound, and the fine was paid by his 
son Cimon. 

In attempting to divide fairly the blame of this unhappy event 
between Militiades and the Athenians, we are to bear in mind that 
it was the failure of the enterprise rather than its unworthy object 
which angered the Athenians ; and that, on the other hand, from 
his whole life and training as well as from his self-will and his per- 
sonal ambition, Miltiades was dangerous to the state. Had he 
succeeded in his plan, he might have made himself tyrant of 
Athens. 

109. Aristeides and Themistocles. — The republicans gathered 
strength from the victory at Marathon and even from the overthrow 
of Miltiades. By ostracizing Hipparchus and other prominent 
friends of Hippias,- they utterly disorganized the tyrant's faction. 
Meanwhile they dealt the nobles a heavy blow by changing the 

1 § 104. 2 §§ 94, 104. 



124 War with Persia and Carthage 

mode of appointment to the nine archonships. Before 487 B.C. the 
archons had been elected ; henceforth they were to be appointed 
by lot. The change degraded these old aristocratic offices by open- 
ing them to men of inferior ability. From this time the polemarch 
ceased to have even nominal command of the army, and the ten 
generals took the place of the nine archons as the chief magistrates 
of Athens. Who the author of this measure was we do not know ; 
it may have been Ar-is-tei'des, for there can be no doubt that after- 
ward he devoted his whole energy to the task of making the Athen- 
ian government a pure democracy. In opposition to the measure 
the nobles and their friends formed a new conservative party, whereas 
the men who brought about the change composed the new demo- 
cratic party. 

The democratic leaders, Aristeides and Themistocles, soon disa- 
greed as to the best way of using the revenues from the silver mines 
of Laurium in southeastern Attica. Aristeides, satisfied with the army 
which had won the battle of Marathon, was evidently willing that 
the old custom of dividing the revenues among the citizens should 
continue. Themistocles, on the other hand, was determined that 
Athens should have a navy to protect her from the Persian attacks 
by sea and to make her a great power in Greece.^ Aristeides was 
ostracised (483 B.C.) ; and with the support of the merchants 
Themistocles carried his plan through the assembly. The state 
built two hundred triremes,- which proved to be the chief means of 
winning a great naval victory over the Persians and of making 
Athens the head of a maritime empire. To bring about this result 
Themistocles had to teach the Athenians that they should support 
the state rather than be supported by it, and should sacrifice their 
own selfish interests to the glory of their country, — in brief, he had 
to remake his fellow- citizens after the pattern of his own grand 
ideal. Measured by its far-reaching effects upon Greece and the 
worid, the creation of an Athenian navy by Themistocles was one 
1 § 104. 2 Vessels with three banks of oars; p. 139. 



Xerxes 125 

of the most magnificent achievements of statesmanship known to 
ancient history. 

110. Preparations for another Invasion of Greece. — "Now when 
the report came to Darius, the son of Hystaspes, of the battle which 
was fought at Marathon, the king who even before this had been 
greatly exasperated with the Athenians on account of the attack 
made upon Sardis, then far more than before displayed indignation, 
and was far more desirous of making a march against Hellas. Im- 
mediately he sent messengers, therefore, to the various cities of his 
empire and ordered that they should get ready a force, appointing 
to each people to supply much more than at the former time, and 
not only ships of war, but also horses and provisions and transport 
vessels ; and when these commands were carried round, all Asia 
was moved for three years, for all the best men were being enlisted 
for the expedition against Hellas, and were making preparations. 
In the fourth year, however, the Egyptians, who had been conquered 
by Cambyses, revolted against the Persians ; and then Darius was 
even more desirous of marching against both these nations." ^ 

About this time (485 b.c.) Darius died, and Xerxes, his son and 
successor, after reconquering Egypt, continued his preparation for 
the invasion of Greece. In the spring of 481 b.c. the nations of his 
empire were pouring their armed forces into Asia Minor, and the 
autumn of the year found Xerxes with his vast host encamped for 
the winter at Sardis. Provisions were being stored along the way, 
and his engineers were bridging the Hellespont with boats. We do 
not know how large his army was, but it certainly did not exceed 
three hundred thousand serviceable troops. On the sea was a fleet 
of about twelve hundred ships manned by Greeks, Phoenicians, and 
Egyptians. The invasion was to bring Greece into great peril j for 
Xerxes hoped to win by sheer force of numbers. 

111. Union of the Loyal Greeks. — While Xerxes was in camp 
at Sardis, his messengers came to the Greek states demanding earth 

1 Herodotus vii. I. 



126 War with Persia and Carthage 

and water, and received these tokens of submission from many of 
them. But none came to Athens and Sparta, as they were to be 
punished for their treatment of the heralds sent by Darius. A 
council of the loyal states met on the Isthmus to plan for the^defence 
of Greece. This union was practically an enlargement of the Pelopon- 
nesian League under the leadership of Sparta. The States repre- 
sented in the council agreed under oath to wage war in common for 
the protection of their liberties. They also reconciled their enmities 
with one another, and sent spies to Sardis and envoys to the other 
Greek states to invite them to join the League. Xerxes, capturing 
the spies, showed them round his camp and sent them home un- 
harmed. The envoys to the Greek states were less successful. Argos, 
through hostility to Sparta, held aloof from the union and doubtless 
prayed for the success of the Persians. The Cor-cy-rae'ans promised 
their navy, but lingered selfishly on the way till the war was decided. 
Ge'lon, tyrant of Syracuse, was requested to give help; but he was 
busy preparing to meet a Carthaginian invasion (§ ii6). 

The plan of the allies was to build a wall across the Isthmus of 
Corinth and to make their main defence there. It was a narrow 
policy, directed by the Lacedaemonian ephors. As Xerxes approached 
the Hellespont in the spring of 480 B.C., the aUies made a feeble 
attempt to defend Thessaly against him by posting an army in the 
vale of Tempe. On the withdrawal of this army, the Thessalians 
went over to the enemy. 

112. The Battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium (480 B.C.). — 
To prevent central Greece from following the example of the Thessa- 
lians, the ephors sent King Le-on'i-das with three hundred heavy- 
armed Spartans and a few thousand allies to hold the pass of 
Ther-mop'y-lae, and thus shut Xerxes out from central Greece. 
They professed to believe that he could hold the pass till the Olym- 
pic games were over. Then, they said, they would take the field in 
full force. The fleet, comprising the squadrons of the various cities 
of the League, sailed to Artemisium to cooperate with the army at 



Thermopylae 



127 



Thermopylae. Each squadron was under its own admiral, and the 
whole fleet was commanded by the Spartan Eu-ry-bi'a-des. 

The Persians failed to carry Leonidas' position by assault, for 
their numbers did not count in the narrow pass. The discipline of 
the Greeks, their strong defensive armor, and their long spears might 
have held the hordes of Xerxes in check for an indefinite time, had 
not the Persians gained the rear of the pass through the treachery of 
a Greek. Most of the allies then withdrew ; but Leonidas with his 
three hundred Spartans and a few allies remained and prepared for a 
death struggle. The 
contrast between the 
Greeks and the 
Orientals was at its 
height at Ther- 
mopylae : on one 
side, the Persian 
officers scourged 
their men to battle ; 
on the other, the 
Spartans voluntarily 
met their death in 
obedience to law. ^rmancwr 

" The Lacedaemonians are the best of all men when fighting in a 
body j for though free, yet they are not free in all things, since over 
them is set law as a master. They certainly do whatever that master 
commands ; and he always bids them not flee in battle from any 
multitude of men, but stay at their post, and win the victory or lose 
their lives." ^ The dead were buried where they fell, and above the 
three hundred was placed this epitaph : " Stranger, tell the Lacedae- 
monians that we lie here in obedience to their laws." 

Meanwhile a storm off the Magnesian coast had destroyed a third 
of the Persian navy. This enormous loss to the enemy encouraged 
^ Herodotus vii. 104, 




128 



IVar with Persia and Carthage 



the wavering admirals of Greece to maintain their station at Ar-te- 
mis'i-um ; and though they learned that the Persians had sent two 
hundred ships round Euboea to cut off their retreat, they were now 
ready for battle. After the Greeks had destroyed or captured several 
Persian vessels, night closed the engagement. Fortunately for the 
Greeks, another storm wrecked the hostile squadron in their rear, 
and thus enabled them to concentrate their whole fleet of over three 




Bay of Salamis 



hundred ships against the enemy. On the following day, accord- 
ingly, the two navies in full force put to sea against each other. The 
batde was indecisive ; but the Greeks lost so heavily that their 
admirals had already resolved to retreat when a messenger came 
with news of the defeat at Thermopylae. It was now clear that the 
fleet could no longer maintain its position. 

113. The March of Xerxes to Athens. — Xerxes was now moving 
through central Greece toward Athens. Nearly all the states west 
of Attica submitted and sent their troops to reenforce his army. The 



Salamis 1 29 

men of Delphi, according to their own account, hid the treasures of 
Apollo in a cave and prepared to resist the Persian corps which had 
come to pillage their temple ; then some god aided them by bringing 
a thunder-storm and hurling great crags down Mount Parnassus upon 
the advancing enemy. In this way, they said, Apollo defended his 
holy shrine. 

The Greek fleet paused at Sal'a-mis to help the Athenians remove 
their families and property to places of safety. This was their last 
resource, as the Peloponnesians were bent on defending only Pelo- 
ponnese. Indeed, the other admirals wished to hurry on to the 
Isthmus; but Themistocles would not go with his fleet, and the 
others felt they could not afford to lose it. On entering his city 
Themistocles found it in despair. Some time before this the 
Athenians had sent to consult the Delphic oracle with respect to the 
approaching war, and a dreadful answer had come foretelling utter 
ruin. The Athenian messengers besought a more favorable reply, 
saying they would remain in the shrine till their death if it were not 
granted. Then the god grew merciful and gave a little hope : — 

" Pallas has not been able to soften the lord of Olympus, 
Though she has often prayed him, and urged him with excellent counsel. 
Yet once more I address thee in words than adamant firmer : 
When the foe shall have taken whatever the limit of Cecrops 
Holds within it, and all which divine Ci-thae'ron shelters, 
Then far-seeing Jove grants this to the prayers of Athena; 
Safe shall the wooden wall continue for thee and thy children. 
Wait not the tramp of the horse, nor the footman mightily moving 
Over the land, but turn your back to the foe, and retire ye. 
Yet shall a day arrive when ye shall meet him in battle. 
Holy Salamis, thou shalt destroy the offspring of women, 
When men scatter the seed, or when they gather the harvest." 

114. The Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.). — Some thought that the 
" wooden wall " was the fence about the Acropolis ; but Themis- 
tocles said no, it meant the ships, and thus he induced the Athenians 
to quit their homes and place all their hopes in the fleet. Themis- 



I30 



War zvitJi Persia and Carthage 



tocles was the soul of resistance to Persia. His resourceful mind 
supplied courage, unity, and religious faith. He was now determined 
that the battle between Asia and Europe should be fought in the bay 
of Salamis. First, he exhausted the resources of eloquence and 
argument to persuade the admirals that here was the most favorable 
place for the fight ; but when arguments and even threats failed, he 
secretly advised the enemy to block the Greeks up in the bay. By fol- 
lowing his advice, Xerxes compelled the Greeks to fight. The three 




r- 






MAP OF 

SALAMIS 



£oP<HaV<fr Co..V. r. 



hundred and seventy-eight Crreek triremes, nearly half of which 
were manned by Athenians, had to face a fleet twice as large. But 
in the narrow strait superiority in number was a disadvantage, — 
closely crowded together, the enemy's ships were unable to manoeu- 
vre, and even wrecked one another by collision. While on the left 
wing the Athenians were putting the Phoenician ships to flight, the 
Aeginetans on the right forced their way along the shore of Salamis 
to assail the enemy in the flank and rear. After lasting all day the 
battle ended in a glorious victory for the Greeks. The Asiatic fleet 
was so thoroughly crippled that it could no longer endanger Greece. 
Xerxes quickly withdrew from Europe, leaving Mardonius in com- 



Plataea 1 3 1 

mand of three hundred thousand troops. The contest on land 
was deferred to the following summer ; but the Persian cause was 
strengthened by the departure of Xerxes, and the real crisis was 
yet to come. 

115. The Battles of Plataea and Mycale (479 B.C.). — The in- 
vaders had destroyed Athens ; so that when the Athenians returned 
to their city they found it in ruins. Though they might during 
the winter have made good terms with the enemy, they remained 
loyal to Hellas, only urging that the Peloponnesian army should 
be displayed as soon as possible in Boeotia. In the spring of 479 
B.C. Mardonius moved from his winter quarters in Thessaly into 
central Greece, and the Athenians again abandoned their city. 
Some of the Peloponnesians were at home ; others were busy work- 
ing on the Isthmian wall, behind which they still planned to make 
their defence. With urging and threats the Athenians finally in- 
duced the ephors of Sparta to put forth their whole military 
strength in defence of central Greece. Pau-sa'ni-as, regent for the 
young son of Leonidas, brought to the Isthmus five thousand 
heavy-armed Spartans, as many heavy-armed perioeci, and forty 
thousand light-armed helots. There the allied troops from Pelo- 
ponnese joined him, and at Eleusis he was further reenforced by 
eight thousand Athenians under Aristeides. Herodotus estimates 
the Persian army at three hundred thousand, the Greek at a little 
more than one hundred thousand.^ Mardonius retired to Boeotia, 
and Pausanias followed him. The Persians encamped northeast of 
Pla-tae'a on a level spot which would give room for the movements 
of their cavalry. The Greek commander took a position on a 
height above them ; but encouraged by a successful skirmish with 
the Persian horsemen, he came down to the plain and placed him- 
self between the enemy and Plataea. There the armies faced each 
other twelve days, neither daring to open battle. But after the 
Persian cavalry had damaged a spring on which the Greeks de- 
^ Probably the forces were considerably smaller than he states. 



132 



War with Persia and Cartilage 



pended for water, Pausanias decided to retire in the night to a 
more favorable position near Plataea. Mardonius, who thought this 
movement a retreat, made haste to attack. When the Persians 
overtook the Greeks and saw them face about, they made a barri- 
A cade of their long shields by fastening the lower ends in the 
^ ground, and from behind this defence they poured their de- 
structive arrows upon the Greeks. The critical moment had 
come ; Pausanias gave the word, and his men 
rushed at full speed upon the foe. In the 
hand-to-hand fight here, as at Marathon, 
the athletic soldiers of Greece easily 
overcame the ill-armed, unskilful men 
of Asia. 

In the summer of the same year, the 
Greek fleet was tempted across the 
Aegean by the Samians, who wished to 
revolt against Persia. About the time 
of the battle at Plataea, — Herodotus 
says on the same day, — the crews of 
the Greek vessels landed at Myc'a-le 
and gained a victory over a greatly 
superior force of the Persians. The 
battle of Plataea freed continental 
Greece from fear of Persian con- 
quest ; that at Mycale pointed unmis- 
takably to the liberation from 
Persian influence of the whole 
Aegean region east and north. 
116. The War with Carthage; Battle of Himera (480 B.C.).— 
Meanwhile the Sicilian Greeks were at war with Carthage. The 
Phoenicians, who had founded this city, were originally an in- 
dustrial and trading people with little taste for war.^ But to defend 

^22. 




A Persian Archer 



Results 



133 



their commercial position in the western Mediterranean they had 
recently begun on a large scale to hire troops from foreign coun- 
tries. With her great army of mercenaries Carthage now aimed to 
win back the lands she had been compelled to yield to the Greeks. 
About the time that Xerxes was crossing the Hellespont, Ham-il'- 
car, king of Carthage, landing at Pan-or'mus, advanced toward 
Him'e-ra with an army of perhaps three hundred thousand men. 
He was met and defeated near Himera by Gelon,^ tyrant of Syra- 
cuse, with the help of allies from the cities of southern Sicily, The 
story is told that all day long as the battle raged, the prophet-king 
of Carthage stood apart from his host, offering victims to the gods, 
and that at last to appease the angry powers who seemed to be 
siding with the foe, he threw himself a living sacrifice into the 
flames. 

117. Results of the War with Persia and Carthage. — The vic- 
tory at Himera led to a treaty, according to which the western 
Greeks and the Carthaginians were to retain their former posses- 
sions. In eastern Greece the war with Persia continued for some 
years after the battles of Plataea and Mycale for the liberation of 
those Greeks who had been subject to Xerxes. The victory in 
the east was won by the enthusiasm of free citizens ; that in the 
west by mercenaries in the service of tyrants. Yet the conflict 
in both parts created a democratic spirit, which in the east made 
the existing constitutions still more popular, and in the west over- 
turned tyranny and set up republican governments. The war with 
Persia and Carthage did much to unite the states of Hellas : Sparta 
remained for a time the political centre of the east - and Syracuse 
of the west. Finally, the victorious Greeks, filled with energy and 
confidence by their unexpected success, now entered upon their 
great age in literature, art, and politics. 

i§ III. 

- Till 461 B.C., when the leadership came to be divided between Athens and 
Sparta. 



134 



War ivith Persia and CartJiaze 



Topics for Reading 

I. Marathon. — Herodotus vi. 107-117; Bury, History of Greece, pp. 247- 
254; Grundy, Great Persian IVar, ^ip, 180-191. 

II. Thermopylae. — Herodotus vii. 201-232; Cox, Greeks anct Persians, pp. 
161-168; Abbott, History of Greece, ii. pp. 151-161. 

III. Salamis. — Herodotus viii. 40-97 : Cox, pp. 173-183; Holm, History 0/ 
Greece, ii. pp. 55-59; Abbott, ii. pp. 177-191. 




A Greek Athlete 
(After Lysippus, a contemporary of Alexander the Great; Vatican Museum, Rome) 



CHAPTER IX 

THE AGE OF CIMON (479-461 B.C.) 

118. Fortification of Athens and of Peiraeus (479, 476 B.C.). — As 

soon as all danger from the Persians was over, the Athenians returned 
home and began to rebuild their city and its walls. They had sacri- 
ficed more than all the other Greeks together in the cause of Hellenic 
freedom. But instead of sympathizing with them in their misfortune, 
some of the Greek states, doubtless through jealousy, complained of 
Athens to Sparta, and asked that the building of the defences be 
stopped. It was urged that the Athenian walls would be merely a 
protection to the Persians on another invasion, and that Peloponnese 
would afford a sufficient refuge for all. The Spartan ephors acted 
readily on the suggestion. They sent envoys who advised the 
Athenians to stop fortifying their city and to join the Lacedaemonians 
rather in tearing down the walls of all the communities north of the 
Isthmus of Corinth. The policy of Lacedaemon was evidently to 
rule Greece if convenient, and to protect only Peloponnese ; but the 
Athenians would not submit to an arrangement so unjust. As they 
were in no condition to face a Peloponnesian army, the resourceful 
Themistocles provided a way out of the dii^culty. 

Following his advice, the Athenians appointed him, Aristeides, and 
a third person ambassadors to Sparta to discuss the question at issue. 

" Themistocles proposed that he should start at once for Sparta, and that his col- 
leagues should wait until the wall reached the lowest height which could possibly, be 
defended. The whole people, men, women, and children, should join in the work, 
and they must spare no building, private or public, which could be of use, but 
demolish them all. Having given these instructions and intimated that he would 
manage affairs at Sparta, he departed. On his arrival he did not at once present 
himself officially to the magistrates, but delayed and made excuses ; and when any 

135 



136 



The Age of Cimon 



of them asked him why he did not appear before the assembly, he said that he was 
waiting for his colleagues, who had been detained by some engagement ; he 
was daily expecting them, and wondered that they had not appeared. 

" The friendship of the Lacedaemonian magistrates for Themistocles induced 
them to believe him ; but when everybody who came from Athens declared posi- 
tively that the wall was building and had already reached a considerable height, 
they knew not what to think. He, aware of their suspicions, desired them not 
to be misled by reports, but to send to Athens men whom they could trust out of 
their own number, who would see for themselves and bring back word. They 
agreed ; and he at the same time privately instructed the Athenians to detain the 
envoys as quietly as they could, and not let them go till he and his colleagues had 




A Remnant of the Wall of Athens 
(Built by Themistocles) 



got safely home. For by this time . . . [the two other Athenian ambassadors] 
had arrived, bringing the news that the wall was of sufficient height ; and he was 
afraid that the Lacedaemonians, when they heard the truth, might not allow them 
to return. So the Athenians detained the envoys, and Themistocles, coming 
before the Lacedaemonians, at length declared in so many words that Athens was 
now provided with walls and could protect her citizens ; " ^ and that henceforth 
Sparta must treat her as an equal. 

It was a bold game well played. The ephors replied that their 
proposal to Athens had been intended merely as friendly advice. 
^ Thucydides i. go f. 



Dclian Confederacy 137 

The outcome of the matter was that although the Spartans were 
thoroughly indignant with Themistocles, the alliance between the two 
states remained intact (§§ 94, 126). 

As soon as the Athenians had finished rebuilding their city, The- 
mistocles began to ioxixiy Peh-aeus. He surrounded it with a massive 
wall seven miles in circuit, for he wished it to be so strong that no 
enemy could take it by storm, and to contain at the same time ample 
space for trade and manufacturing. Peiraeus soon took a place 
among the most flourishing commercial cities of the Mediterranean 
world. 

119. The Confederacy of Delos. — While the Athenians were 
rebuilding and fortifying their city and port, interesting events were 
happening elsewhere. The year after the battles of Plataea and 
Mycale the Lacedaemonians sent out Pausanias to command the fleet 
of the allies in their war for the liberation of the colonies. He 
laid siege to Byzantiunij which was still occupied by the enemy 
(478 B.C.) ; but while engaged in this work he offered to betray 
Greece into Persian hands on condition that he might become tyrant 
of his country and son-in-law of the king. Meantime he was cruel 
and arrogant to those under his authority. The Asiatic Greeks who 
had joined the expedition, resenting such treatment, begged the 
Athenian generals, Aristeides and Cimon,^ to take charge of the fleet. 
The gentleness and courtesy of the commanders from Athens con- 
trasted strikingly with the brutality of Pausanias. Naturally, too, the 
Athenians and the Asiatic Greeks sympathized with each other because 
of their close kinship. Aristeides and Cimon accepted the invitation. 
The Lacedaemonians recalled Pausanias to answer the charges against 
him,- and soon afterward yielded the leadership at sea to Athens. 
They saw no advantage to themselves in continuing the war with 
Persia and could not trust their commanders abroad. They believed, 
too, that they should lose none of their prestige by this arrangement, 
for Athens was still their ally and pledged by treaty to follow their 
1 §§ loS. 109. 2 § 122, 



138 TJic Age of Cimon 

lead in war. The Athenians, on the other hand, gladly accepted the 
burden of the war with Persia, for they hoped by means of their great 
navy to gain both wealth and political power. 

In 477 B.C., accordingly, the Athenians organized their new alliance. 
It centred at the shrine of Apollo on the island of De'los, and was 
named therefore the Delian Confederacy. Its organization was pat- 
terned after that of the Peloponnesian League.^ The allies were to 
furnish ships and crews led by Athenian generals, and a congress of 
deputies from all the allied states was to meet at Delos under the presi- 
dency of representatives from Athens. But in important respects 
the Confederacy of Delos differed from the Peloponnesian League. 
It was necessary to maintain a large fleet in the Aegean Sea as a 
defence against the Persians, whereas no standing force was needed 
for the protection of Peloponnese. Money is absolutely necessary 
for the support of a fleet ; hence the Delian Confederacy, unlike the 
Peloponnesian League, levied annual taxes. Aristeides, who was 
commissioned to make the first assessment, decided which states 
should furnish ships with their crews and which should contribute 
money. The larger communities generally provided naval forces, 
while the smaller paid taxes. The total annual cost of maintaining 
the Confederacy amounted, by the assessment of Aristeides, to 
four hundred and sixty talents." The treasury, in the temple of the 
Delian Apollo, was managed by treasurers who were exclusively 
Athenians. 

120. Growth of the Confederacy; Revolts of the Allies. — With 
Cimon as leader, the Delian Confederacy rapidly expanded till it 
came within a few years to include the eastern and northern coasts 
and most of the islands of the Aegean. In 468 B.C., at the mouth of 
the Eu-rym'e-don on the coast of Pam-phyl'i-a, Cimon gained a 
double victory over a Phoenician fleet and a land force of Persians. 
As a result of this battle, the Carian and Lycian coasts came into the 
Confederacy of Delos, bringing the number of cities up to about two 
1 § 92. ^ The value of a silver talent is about $1180. 



^ 



\ 



0x5 



Revolts 



139 



hundred. The Persians were dislodged from the whole Aegean 
region, and there was little apparent danger from them for the pres- 
ent. But this very feeling of security proved to be extremely mis- 
chievous. Many of the allies, finding military service irksome, offered 
to pay taxes instead. Cimon advised the Athenians to accept these 
payments, as they could build and equip triremes at less expense 
than the separate allied towns, and hence could fulfil their agreement 
to protect the Aegean Sea, give work to the laboring class among 
themselves, and have money left for their own pubUc use. But some 
grew tired even of pay- 
ing the tribute. Indeed, 
they could no longer see 
the need of a confeder- 
acy since the Persians 
had ceased to trouble 
them. 

Even before the battle 
of Eurymedon Nax'os 
took the lead in revolt- 
ing. It had a strong 
navy and expected aid 
from Persia ; but Cimon 
besieged the island and 
reduced it before help could arrive. The Naxians were compelled 
to tear down their walls, surrender their fleet, and pay henceforth an 
annual tribute. Thus Naxos lost its freedom and became dependent 
on Athens (469 B.C.). 

Next came the revolt of Tha'sos, the cause of which was a quarrel 
between the Athenians and the Thasians over certain gold mines of 
Thrace, in which both had an interest. Thasos was one of the strong- 
est of the allies ; it had a fleet of thirty-three ships and valuable pos- 
sessions in Thrace. After a siege of two years Cimon reduced the 
island, and punished it just as he had Naxos (463 B.C.). 




A Trireme 



140 TJie Age of Civion 

121. Sparta and Athens. — To understand the trouble which soon 
afterward arose between Athens and Sparta, it is necessary to trace 
the relations of these cities to each other from the time when The- 
mistocles built the wall around Athens.^ This measure offended the 
Lacedaemonians, who, while keeping peace with Athens, vented their 
rage upon Themistocles. It was their custom to control allies by 
interfering in their politics. Accordingly they urged Cimon forward 
as leader of the conservatives at Athens, and consequently as an 
opponent of Themistocles, a democrat. In this position Cimon had 
the good will of Aristeides. Though Aristeides, as well as Themisto- 
cles, was a democrat, the two men held quite different views. The- 
mistocles represented the commercial interests of the party ; Aristeides 
was a patron of the poor, — he insisted that all public service should 
be paid, and that the state should support the masses in return for 
their labor. Both men were praised by their friends as strictly up- 
right; both were denounced by their enemies as unscrupulous and 
corrupt in public life. Themistocles had a brilliant mind, and was a 
friend of education and of art ; Aristeides, a man of average intelli- 
gence, would have nothing to do with such refinements, but thought 
it enough that people should have a living and be honest. Men so 
unlike could not work together. Aristeides joined Cimon against 
Themistocles, and so did other prominent men. Representing their 
great opponent as dangerous to the state, they had him ostracised 
(about 472 B.C.). He retired to Argos, and from there travelled 
about Peloponnese. Wherever he went, he encouraged the members 
of the league to set up democratic governments and to revolt against 
Sparta. 

122. The Fate of Pausanias and of Themistocles. — While Themis- 
tocles was thus engaged, it seems probable that he received letters 
from Pausanias urging him to take part in some treasonable design. 
After his recall from Byzantium Pausanias had not only continued 
his traitorous correspondence with Persia," but was even intriguing 

i§"8. 2 §119- 



The Revolt of the Helots 141 

with the helots,^ promising them citizenship if they would support 
him in his plans. No sooner had the ephors got evidence of all his 
doings and resolved to arrest him, than he fled for refuge to a shrine 
of Athena. Fearing to drag him away, they walled him in, so that 
he died of starvation ; and thus the Lacedaemonians brought upon 
themselves the curse of impiety. 

The ephors now alleged that they had found among the letters 
of Pausanias some evidence that Themistocles also had been plot- 
ting with the Persians against Greece. They demanded that he 
should be tried for treason. As the Lacedaemonians were already 
angry with Themistocles, we should be slow to believe the accusa- 
tion. Athenian officers, however, went to Peloponnese to bring 
him to Athens for trial. Hearing of their approach, Themistocles 
escaped to Cor-cy'ra, and after various wanderings made his way to 
the court of the Persian king. Here he found safety from his pur- 
suers ; he was kindly received and given the revenues of some cities 
in western Asia Minor. He may have made the king some promise 
of subduing Greece, but he certainly did nothing to carry it into 
effect. Finally he died of sickness, though some of the Greeks 
believed that he took poison to avoid fulfilling his promise to the 
king. Thus the man who had done more than any other to main- 
tain the freedom of Hellas and to make his own city great ended 
his life in obscurity and dishonor ; but years afterward he became 
next to Solon the idol of the Athenians. 

123. The Revolt of the Helots (464 B.C.). — After driving Themis- 
tocles from Greece, the Lacedaemonians remained friendly to Athens 
for several years. But when the battle of Eurymedon had been won, 
and they saw the victorious city continually adding to her posses- 
sions and power, fear and jealously turned them against her. By 
promising to invade Attica they secretly encouraged the Thasians to 
hold out against Athens. This agreement, however, they were pre- 
vented from fulfiUing by a terrible earthquake, which nearly de- 

^ § 87. 



142 The Age of Cimon 

stroyed Sparta. Only a few houses were left standing, and thousands 
of lives were lost. Many of the helots had recently been slain on 
suspicion of having intrigued with Pausanias. The authorities at 
Sparta had even dragged some away from sanctuaries and put them 
to death. Hence the earthquake was regarded by the lower classes 
in Laconia as a divine punishment visited upon Lacedaemon for 
her sin. The helots revolted, and in the general confusion caused 
by earthquake and superstition they nearly captured Sparta by sur- 
prise. But most of the perioeci remained loyal, and the shattered 
city was saved by the promptness of King Ar-chi-da'mus. The 
insurgents, who were mostly Messenians, seized and fortified, in 
their own country, Mount Ithome,^ one of the strongest military 
positions in Peloponnese. As the Lacedaemonians could accom- 
plish nothing against them single-handed, they asked help of their 
allies, including the Athenians. When the envoys reached Athens, 
a hot debate ensued as to whether aid should be sent. After the 
banishment of Themistocles, the democratic party, believing that 
Sparta was a dead weight attached to Athens, continued to uphold 
his policy of cutting loose from Peloponnese. Its leader was now 
Themistocles' friend, Eph-i-al'tes, a good citizen and an upright 
statesman. He vehemently opposed the resolution to send assist- 
ance to the Lacedaemonians and advised that " the pride and 
arrogance of Sparta be trodden under." Cimon, who was present, 
was of the opposite opinion. In the debate with Ephialtes, he 
urged the Athenians " not to suffer Greece to be lamed or Athens to 
be deprived of her yoke-mate," meaning that the alliance between 
these two states should be preserved at every cost. It was his 
conviction that the strength of Hellas should be united in continual 
war against Persia. The assembly adopted his proposal, and sent 
him with an army against Ithome. 

124. The Fall of the Council of the Areopagus (462 B.C.). — Cimon 
left his party without a leader at a very critical time. Since the 

1 § ^,8. 



Ephialtes and Pericles 143 

war with Persia democratic ideas had been gaining ground at 
Athens. Influenced by Aristeides, the government had begun to 
pay for public service, in order that the poor might stand on an 
equahty with the rich in their relations with the state. Thus Aris- 
teides introduced a radical democratic principle into the constitution. 
The only important conservative force remaining in it was the 
Council of the Areopagus. As the members of this body held their 
places for life, they were usually a generation behind time in the 
questions of the day. In Cimon's absence Ephialtes attacked this 
council, and carried a measure which deprived it of all political 
authority. It remained little more than a court with jurisdiction in 
cases of murder. 

Ephialtes was supported in this measure by Pericles, son of Xan- 
thippus. Though a young man, Pericles was already recognized as 
a prominent leader of the democrats against the conservative Cimon. 
After acquiring enormous wealth through his victories, Cimon spent 
it Hberally on the state and the citizens. He engaged architects, 
painters, and sculptors to adorn the city with beautiful works. Espe- 
cially generous toward the people of his township, he had the fences 
pulled down from about his orchards that his neighbors might freely 
enjoy the fruit ; his table was plain, but all his townsmen were wel- 
come to eat with him. Those who were thus maintained at his 
expense supported him in political life. The idea of Pericles, on the 
other hand, was to enhst the citizens in the service of the stale, that 
they might be attached to it rather than to individuals like Cimon. 
His chief means to this end was the passage of an act to pay jurors 
a small fee, probably two obols (six cents) a day, for their service. 
Thus he and Ephialtes finished the work which Aristeides had begun, 
and Athens became a pure democracy. Ephialtes was soon after- 
ward assassinated, probably by political enemies. 

125. Rupture between Athens and Sparta (462 B.C.) ; Ostracism of 
Cimon (461 B.C.). — Meanwhile the Athenian troops at Ithome were 
unsuccessful ; and the Lacedaemonian authorities, suspecting them 



144 



The Age of Chnon 



of treachery, insolently dismissed them. Cimon returned to Athens 
an unpopular man. In trying to check the rising tide of democracy, 

he was met with taunts of 
over-fondness for Sparta and 
of immorality in his private 
life. Athens abandoned his 
policy, broke loose from 
Sparta, and began to form 
an alliance of her own, wholly 
independent of the Pelopon- 
nesian League. Cimon's 
resistance to these new 
movements caused his ostra- 
cism in 461 B.C. 

For fifteen years (476-461 
B.C.) he had been leading the 
Athenian fleets to victory or 
upholding the principles of 
old Athens against what he 
believed to be the dangerous 
tendencies of demagogues, 
such as Themistocles and 
Ephialtes ; during this time his influence maintained friendship be- 
tween his city and Sparta and harmony among the states of Greece. 
Under his patronage Athens advanced beyond all other Hellenic 
cities in civilization. Recalled from exile some time afterward, he 
was again to show himself a patriot and a friend of art, but with his 
ostracism the political leadership of Athens passed into other hands. 




Discobolus 
(After Myron; Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Topics for Reading 

I. Aristeides. — h.r'\%\.o\}iQ, Athenian Constitution, 2\; V\vXz.xz\i, Aristeides ; 
Cox, G}-eek Statesmen, \: "Aristeides." 

II. Cimon. — Plutarch, Cimon; Holm, History of Greece, ii. ch. viii, ix; 
Botsford, Greece, ch. viii. 



CHAPTER X 

THE AGE OF PERICLES (461-431 b.c.) 

126. Athens and her Neighbors (461-457 B.C.). — After Ephialtes 
was assassinated and Cimon ostracised, Pericles became the leading 
statesman of his city. Under his guidance Athens deserted the 
Peloponnesian League and allied herself with Argos and Thessaly, 
and soon afterward with Megaris. But the rapid growth of her 




power stirred up enemies. The Ae-gi-ne'tans, the Corinthians, and 
some others combined to resist her. In the war which followed, the 
Athenians were victorious over their enemies by land and sea — in 
Megaris and off Aegina. They then landed on that island and laid 
siege to the city. At the same time they began to build two long 
walls, — four, and four and a half, miles in length, — one connecting 
L 145 



146 



TJie Age of Pericles 



Athens with Phalerum, the other with Peiraeus, Several years later 
they made a third wall parallel with the second mentioned, in order 
to have a fortified road to the sea. Their purpose was not only to 
secure communication between the city and the harbors in case of 
siege, but also to provide a place of safety for the country people 
with their movable property. They were right m thinking that as 
long as Athens maintained these walls and her naval supremacy, she 
was absolutely safe from every external enemy. The conservatives 
opposed the undertaking ; a few of their party intrigued with the 
Lacedaemonians, inviting them to interfere and stop the building of 
the walls. Because of their traitorous attachment to Sparta, the 
stronghold of oligarchy,' these Athenian conservatives were hence- 
forth called " oligarchs," a name odious to the patriots through its 
association with treason and conspiracy. 

It seems probable that the Lacedaemonians accepted the invita- 
tion of these oligarchs, for they immediately introduced a strong 

army into Boeotia, near the Attic 
border. Disgraced by her sub- 
mission to Xerxes, Thebes had 
lost control of Boeotia. The 
Lacedaemonians now restored 
the Boeotian League, with Thebes 
at its head, as a counterpoise to 
Athens. Thereupon the Athe- 
nians with their alhes marched 
forth and engaged the Pelopon- 
nesians at Tan'a-gra (457 B.C.). 
It was a bloody struggle, but 
the Athenians were worsted, partly because the Thessahan cavalry in 
their alliance deserted to the enemy. 

127. Athens and her Neighbors (456-447 B.C.). — The Lacedae- 
monians now returned home, leaving the Boeotians in the lurch. 

1 § 92, n. I. 




Athenian Knights 
(From the Parthenon Frieze) 



Continental Federation 147 

Two months later the Athenians under My-ro'ni-des, an able general, 
again took the field and defeated the Boeotians at Oe-noph'y-ta. 
Through this victory Athens brought into her aUiance all the towns 
of Boeotia except Thebes ; also Phocis, already friendly, and Locris. 
The Athenians expelled the oligarchs from the Boeotian towns and 
set up democratic governments favorable to themselves. For a time 
everything went well. Aegina surrendered, dismantled her walls, 
and entered the Delian Confederacy as a tributary state. About the 
same time Troe'zen and Achaea made an alliance with Athens. The 
Athenians were now at the height of their power. Their Continental 
Federation extended from the Isthmus to Thermopylae, and further- 
more included not only Argos, Troezen, and Achaea in Peloponnese, 
but also Nau-pac'tus, an important station controlling the entrance to 
the Corinthian Gulf. The Aegean Sea had become an Athenian lake. 
The maritime empire whose resources Pericles commanded extended 
from the Attic shores eastward to Caria and northward to the Black 
Sea. Although under Pericles Athens had been uniformly success- 
ful, she was soon to experience a dreadful misfortune. Two hundred 
and fifty triremes recently sent to aid Egypt in her revolt were taken 
by. the Persians. This great reverse compelled Athens to adopt a 
more friendly policy in relation to her neighbors. 

Cimon, recalled from exile, brought about a Five Years'' Truce 
between his city and Lacedaemon in 450 B.C. Next year he sailed 
with two hundred triremes to free Cyprus from Persia. But he died 
on the expedition ; and though his fleet destroyed a strong Phoeni- 
cian armament, the project came to naught. Cimon's death was a 
great loss to the Athenians ; he was their Nelson, the winner of more 
naval victories than any other Greek. 

Soon afterward the Continental Federation came to an end (447 
B.C.). The oligarchs whom Athens had driven from the towns of 
Boeotia returned in force, defeated the Athenians, and compelled 
them to leave the country. About the same time Athens lost control 
of Locris, Phocis, and Megara, and came near losing Euboea. Only 



148 



TJie Age of Pericles 



the energy and diplomacy of Pericles saved the empire at this crisis. 
But his city was exhausted and needed a breathing time. 

In 445 B.C. a T7-uce for Thirty Years was made between the two 
hostile powers. Athens gave up all her continental allies except 
Plataea and Naupactus. Neither party was to interfere with the 
allies of the other, but alliances with strangers could be made at 
pleasure. Athens suffered most by the treaty, as she was not only 
excluded from Peloponnese but also lost control of the Corinthian 

Gulf and the Isthmus. 
She gained, on the other 
hand, an acknowledgment 
of her maritime suprem- 
acy. 

About the same time 
friendly relations were es- 
tablished between Athens 
and Persia, and thereafter 
they remained at peace 
with each other for many 
years. 

128. The Change from 
the Confederacy of Delos 
to the Athenian Empire 
(454 B.C.). — In the pre- 
ceding chapter we have 
seen how the allies of 
Athens were gradually re- 
duced to the condition of subjects.^ The change from confederacy 
to empire was completed by the transfer of the treasury from Delos 
to Athens, probably in 454 B.C. Only the Lesbians, Chians, and 
Samians, as free and equal allies, retained whatever forms of govern- 
ment they desired. The other states were required to make new 

1 § 120. 




Pericles 

(Copied after Cresilas, a Cretan artist of the Fifth 
Century, B.C., British Museum) 



Imperialism 149 

treaties with Athens by which they agreed to adopt democratic con- 
stitutions, and to send their important law cases to the imperial city 
for trial. The tribute from the empire enabled Athens to beautify 
herself with public works, to encourage literature and art, to provide 
the citizens with magnificent festivals, to give paid employment to 
most of her people, and to build and maintain powerful fleets and 
strong defences. Among the allied states Pericles established many 
colonies, which besides serving as garrisons for the protection of the 
empire, furnished the poorer Athenians with lands. Thus both city 
and citizens were benefited by the empire. 

The aUies, too, enjoyed the advantages of peace. Never before or 
afterward did they have equal opportunity for commerce or for quiet 
country life. The annual tribute was more than balanced by an in- 
crease in w^ealth and prosperity. The commons, everywhere pro- 
tected by Athens from the insolence of their own oligarchs, remained 
faithful. Only the families which had once ruled their communities 
and the market-place politicians were actively engaged in fomenting 
opposition to the Athenians. Though by no means perfect, the 
empire was the highest political development which the Greeks had 
yet reached ; undoubtedly the great majority in all the states of the 
empire were satisfied with it to the end. 

129. Opposition to Imperialism. — The chief opponent of imperi- 
alism at Athens was Thu-cyd'i-des, son of Mel-e'si-as. He was a 
near kinsman of Cimon, but a far more skilful politician, and an 
effective orator. Gathering up the remnants of the conservative 
party, he led it in a desperate attack upon the policy of Pericles. 
He charged against the democratic statesman the transfer of the 
confederate treasury to Athens and the use of the funds for the 
decoration of the city. Finally his party,, alleging that Pericles was 
aiming to make himself tyrant, risked everything on a vote of ostra- 
cism. By banishing Thucydides the Athenians gave Pericles free 
scope for his policy at home and abroad (442 B.C.). 

Soon afterward Santos revolted. This was an evil omen to the 



1 50 The Age of Pericles 

empire, for the Samians had ahvays been the most faithful aUies and 
the most zealous supporters of Athens. They expected help from 
both Persia and Lacedaemon, but none came. The Persians were 
not ready, and Corinth again prevailed upon Lacedaemon not to 
interfere with Athens. The Samians hoped, too, that many subject 
states of Athens would join them, but this great danger to the empire 
was averted by the energy of Pericles. In a nine months' siege he 
compelled Samos to surrender. He then deprived the state of its 
freedom and required it to pay the expenses of the war. This 
success strengthened the empire (440 B.C.). 

130. The Periclean Democracy (461-431 B.C.) ; the Law Courts. — 
While Pericles was thus engaged in attaching to Athens the com- 
mon people of the empire by giving them the control of their 
states, and by suppressing the oligarchs, he was no less busy with 
estabHshing equal rights for his fellow-citizens. In earlier times the 
Council of the Areopagus had exercised a parental watch over the 
government ; but in 462 B.C. Pericles had helped overthrow that 
body,^ because he believed the Athenians were no longer children 
in politics, and could now govern themselves. He intended that the 
people themselves should protect their constitution by means of the 
supreme court which Solon had estabhshed.- It was to contain six 
thousand jurors, who were divided normally into panels, or smaller 
courts,'' of five hundred and one each. As cases were decided by a 
majority vote, the odd number was to prevent a tie. Originally the 
archons were judges and the courts simply received appeals from 
their decisions ; but in the time of Pericles the archons had come 
to be mere clerks, who prepared cases for presentation to the courts 
and presided over them through the trial, with no power to influence 
the decision. As the archons declined, the jurors gained in im- 
portance. Their large number made bribery and intimidation dififi- 

M§7i. 124. 2§77- 

^ Di-cas-te'ri-a, plural o{ di caster ium. Some panels were larger, others smaller, 
but the number was alwavs odd. 




OS J= 
U p 



TJie Jury System 1 5 1 

cult. This was especially salutary, as there was a tendency among 
Greek nobles to override the laws and trample upon the rights of 
common people. The system, on the other hand, was defective 
from the fact that it is easier to excite the feelings of a multitude 
than of a few persons. Then, too, these large bodies of men, taken 
for the most part from the less wealthy class and absolutely free from 
the control of a judge, often acted from political motives ; as they 
were intensely democratic, an oligarch was not sure of fair treatment 
at their hands. 

The legislative power resided chiefly in these courts. Once a year 
the no-moth' e-tae^ a special body of sworn jurors, met and received 
from the Council of Five Hundred and the assembly proposals for 
new laws, and after hearing them discussed, decided upon them by a 
majority vote. Laws thus made were distinguished from the decrees 
passed by the Council of Five Hundred and the assembly in their 
management of the current business of government.^ 

The introduction of a fee enabled the poorest citizen to attend to 
jury service. The pay was that of an unskilled day laborer. If 
frugally managed, it would buy food for a small family. There was 
no class of paupers in Athens at this time ; nor did men wish to 
become jurors to avoid working with their hands. They had been 
oarsmen or soldiers in their younger days, and now, for the most 
part too old to work, they were drawing their juror's fee as a kind 
of pension, for which, however, they were required to sit on the 
benches judging from early morning till late at night. Payment 
for public duties, whether religious or poHtical, tended to equalize 
the poor and the rich ; it tended to the religious, intellectual, and 
political education of all the citizens, and was thus a necessary factor 
in the growth of Attic civilization. 

131. The Periclean Democracy; the Assembly and the Generals. 
— The assembly was composed of all citizens above eighteen years 

^ Laws were nofii'oi, plural of tioinos, and noiiiothetae signifies lawmakers; de- 
crees vr&xe pse-phis'ina-ta, plural oi psephisma. 



152 TJie Age of Pericles 

of age who had the leisure and inclination to attend. There were 
four regular meetings in every prytany, or tenth of a year, with as 
many extraordinary sessions as were thought necessary. One meet- 
ing of each prytany was occupied with examining the conduct of 
magistrates ; and any one of them who was thought guilty of mis- 
management could be deposed and brought to trial before a popular 
court. All measures brought before the assembly had to be pre- 
viously considered by the Council of Five Hundred, but the citizens 
could offer amendments at pleasure. They had no master ; they 
acknowledged no authority but the laws which they and their fathers 
had made. There was no higher or more dignified office than that 
of the citizen who attended the assembly and law courts; he was at 
once a legislator, a judge, and an executive officer. This position of 
honor and trust made him public-spirited. The Athenian citizen was 
called upon as was no other in the ancient world, to find his larger 
interests in those of the state. In the assembly and in the courts he 
received an education in law and in statesmanship such as has been 
granted to but a select few in other states, whether ancient or 
modern. 

By far the most important magistrates in this century were the 
generals. They commanded the army, and were ministers of war, 
of the navy, of finance, and of foreign affairs. They had to be in 
constant communication with the assembly. For this purpose the 
gift of speaking was necessary, and that general who was at the same 
time an orator was naturally leader of the board. Through this 
office Pericles ruled Athens and her empire with an authority which 
surpassed that of kings and tyrants. His power was founded on 
ability and integrity. " He was able to control the multitude in a 
free spirit ; he led them rather than was led by them ; for, not seek- 
ing power by dishonest arts, he had no need to say pleasant things, 
but on the strength of his own high character could venture to 
oppose and even to anger them. When he saw them unseasonably 
elated and arrogant, his words humbled and awed them ; and when 



TJie Periclean Democracy 153 

they were depressed by groundless fears, he sought to reanimate 
their confidence. Thus Athens, though still in name a democracy, 
was in fact ruled by her greatest citizen." ^ 

132. Narrowness of the Periclean Democracy. — The chief de- 
fect in the Periclean system was its narrowness. There were perhaps 
thirty thousand voters in Attica at this time. The total number of 
Athenians, including women and children, was about a hundred thou- 
sand. Under these in rank were thirty thousand alien residents, and 
at the lowest estimate, a hundred thousand slaves. From this it is 
evident that all men in Attica were by no means free and equal. 
Slavery was necessary to the Athenian democracy, as it gave the citi- 
zens leisure for attending to public affairs ; yet it was a monstrous 
evil. However, it may be said that, so far as our knowledge goes, 
the slave at Athens was treated better even than the common citizen 
in oligarchic states. 

An evil second only to slavery was the permanent exclusion of alien 
residents from the citizenship. Many of their families had lived in Attica 
for generations ; and had they been admitted to all the privileges of 
citizenship, they would undoubtedly have given the state a breadth 
of base sufficient for its preservation and success in the long war 
which was soon to come. The narrowness of the Athenian system is 
seen further in the relation between Athens and her allies, who were 
now in reality subjects. However loyal an allied state might be, its 
citizens were given no hope of ever securing the Athenian franchise. 
Thus the whole body of Athenian citizens had become aristocrats, 
were now living at the expense of the many over whom they ruled, 
and were taking pride in their exclusive privileges of birth. Finally, 
by refusing to intermarry with any other Greeks, the Athenians made 
of themselves a closed caste. Pericles brought this about by his law 
of 451 B.C., which restricted the citizenship to those whose parents 
were both Athenians. This narrowness was more pernicious to Athens 
than all the calamities of war which ever befell her. 
1 Thucydides ii. 65. 



154 



The Age of Pericles 



Improvements of the City' 

133. Art. — In the improvement of the city the years of peace 
from 445 to 431 B.C. form the most brilUant period of Athenian his- 
tory. Pericles wished his city to 
become the " School of Hellas " ; 
he aimed, by adding a broad, well- 
rounded education to the natural 
genius of the Athenians, to make 
of them a race of men whom other 
Greeks would regard as distinctly 
superior in mind and in soul. 
Thus he hoped to establish for 
his countrymen a natural claim to 
sovereignty over Hellas. One of 
the means of effecting this end was 
a beautiful environment. 

On the Acropolis, accordingly, 
skilful architects built a temple to 
Athena, which came to be known 
as the Far'the-?wfi.- It included 
two principal apartments : the 
smaller served as a treasure room, 
and the larger contained the statue 
of the goddess. The material of 
the temple is marble from Mount 
Pentelicus ; when taken from the 
quarries it is brilliantly white, but 
exposure to the weather changes 







^^H 


^Hp^^^^H 








ifii 


^^ ,1 







Athena Parthexos 



^ Those teachers who wish to follow the political narrative without interruption 
may omit §§ 133, 134. 

■■2 " Maidens' chamber," first applied simply to the treasure room, which was 
dedicated to Athena's maiden attendants. 



Temples 



155 



it to a rich yellow. Though the Parthenon is Doric, its beauty is 
softened by Ionic influence. It is perhaps the most nearly perfect 
piece of architecture ever created by human hands. 

Near the Parthenon, on the northern rim of the Acropolis, is the 
E-trch-thei'um, the house of Erechtheus and Athena. The Athena 
of the Parthenon was guardian of the empire ; the goddess of the 
Erechtheium protected the city. This temple, finished in 409 B.C., 




"Theseium " 
(From the northeast) 

was the centre of the religious life of Athens. It is in the Ionic 
style, and is noted for its beautiful floral ornamentation of the honey- 
suckle pattern. Modern artists are attracted by the statues of maid- 
ens, substituted for columns in the south porch (p. 186). 

Northwest of the Acropolis, on a rocky terrace, is the so-called 
The-seV um, a temple of the Doric order, the best preserved piece 
of ancient Greek architecture. It is unknown whether this is really 
a temple to Theseus or to one of the great gods, perhaps Hephaestus, 



156 



The Age of Pericles 



or whether Cimon or Pericles built it. Scholars are inclined to re- 
gard it as the work of Pericles, and think it too large to be the shrine 
of a mere hero (§ 48). 

All the temples at Athens are of the same fine material ; all testify 
to the love of beauty born in the people who built them. 

The private dwellings of the Greeks and even their official build- 
ings were small and inexpensive. Religion alone inspired them to 
build beautifully and grandly. But some architectural works were 
less directly connected with the worship of the gods than were 
the temples. Such was the Pro-py-lae'a, the magnificent portal of the 
Acropolis, built under the administration of Pericles. Beneath the 

Acropolis, on the southeast, 
Pericles built also the 
0-dei'um. It was semi- 
circular in form, with a 
pointed, tent-hke roof, 
whose rafters were masts 
of Persian vessels taken at 
Salamis. In it were held 
the musical contests of the 
Great Pan-ath-e-nae'a, or 
harvest festival in honor of 
the goddess. 

The sculpture of the age 
was as beautiful as the 
architecture. The reliefs 
of the Parthenon were 
made under the direction of Phei'di-as, the most eminent sculptor 
of all time. By comparing one of its metopes with that from Selinus 
described above,' we may see how wonderful an advance the Greeks 
had made in this branch of art within the short period of a hundred 
and fifty years. The figures of the Parthenon metope are lifelike, 

i§98. 




Lapith and Centaur 
(Parthenon Metope) 



Literature 157 

and are wrought with great skill. The earlier sculpture shows a 
mechanical succession of figures little related to one another, whereas 
those of the later piece form a natural group which fills the slab with 
a variety of graceful lines. 

The earliest material for statues was wood ; and throughout 
ancient history some of the most revered images of the gods were 
but carved logs. For instance, in the Erechtheium the Athenians 
kept an archaic wooden statue of Athena, which they venerated more 
highly than all the artistic work of more recent times. Bronze and 
stone, however, gradually took the place of wood. Rarely ivory and 
gold were used. The great statue of Athena by Pheidias in the 
Parthenon was of this kind. It was made on a wooden frame ; the 
garments were of gold and the bare parts of ivory. 

134. Literature, Philosophy, and Education. — Aes'chy-lus (525- 
456 B.C.), the first great composer of dramas, saw the beginning of 
the age of Pericles. He had lived through the war with Persia and 
had fought in the battles of Marathon and Salamis. From this con- 
flict he drew his inspiration. Of his ninety tragedies we have only 
seven, but all of them masterpieces of literature. To the student of 
history the Persians \i the most valuable. In representing the inva- 
sion of Xerxes, it gives a glorious description of the battle of Salamis. 
The moral aim of the play is to show how Zeus punished Xerxes 
for his insolence. In fact overweening pride and its fatal effects 
are the theme of all his writings. 

Soph'o-cles was the great dramatic writer of the age of Pericles. 
Though not so strong or so original as Aeschylus, he was a more 
careful artist. His plot is more intricate and his language more fin- 
ished. We have but seven of his hundred plays. Though the OedH-piis 
Tyr-an'/ius won but a second prize, modern scholars usually consider 
it his best. It tells how Oedipus, king of Thebes, a just and pious 
man, brought utter ruin upon himself and his household by uninten- 
tional sin.^ In the Ati-tig'o-ne the heroine faces a conflict between 

M 47- 



158 The Age of Pericles 

divine and human law. She chooses to obey the command of God in 
preference to that of the Icing ; and she dies a martyr to the nobler 
cause. It has always been popular from its first exhibition to the 
present day. 

In the age of Pericles He-rod' o-ins was at work on his history, 
the first masterpiece of Greek prose. An exile from his native city 
of Hal-i-car-nas'sus in Asia Minor, the " father of history " spent 
much of his life in travel. He visited nearly all of the known world 
and everywhere collected from the natives interesting stories of per- 
sons and events. These he wove into a history of the war between 
Greece and Persia. In tracing the causes of the conflict by way of 
introduction, he gives the history of the world from mythical times 
down to the war itself. He wrote his work to be read aloud, as the 
poems of Homer had been, at public gatherings. This helps us to 
understand why his style is so simple and so interesting. Many of his 
tales are myths or fictitious anecdotes ; but they are all valuable, as 
they illustrate the character of nations and of individuals. Herodo- 
tus was one of the fairest and most large-minded of historians. 
Though uncritical, though he takes little interest in politics, or in the 
deeper causes of events, yet his picture of the world of his time and of 
mankind in the many countries which he visited makes his work per- 
haps the truest, as it certainly is the most interesting, of all histories. 

Pericles was a patron of literature and art and friend of philoso- 
phers. Among his teachers was An-ax-ag'o-ras, the first philosopher 
who taught that Mind rules the universe. The class of philosophers 
called sophists ^ was now becoming numerous. They travelled through 
Greece teaching practical knowledge of every kind for pay. Espe- 
cially they aimed to prepare young men for statesmanship by training 
them in mere cleverness of thought. As a rule they were sceptical ; 
with their false logic they tried to undermine belief in everything. 
They destroyed respect for religion by pointing out its inconsistencies 
and the immoralities of the gods. 

1 From <jo(p6i, wise. 



Aspasia 1 59 

The influence of the sophists affected but a few men of wealth and 
leisure. In general life was wholesome and the people were moral. 
The artistic surroundings, the grand dramatic entertainments, en- 
joyed by all the citizens, the splendid religious festivals, and the 
public life in the assembly and law courts educated the poor as 
well as the rich. There is no wonder that the Athenians of the 
age of Pericles were the foremost people of all time in intelligence 
and in taste. 

135. The Troubles of Pericles. — But the era of peace was rapidly 
drawing to an end. The moderate pohcy of Pericles pleased neither 
the oligarchs nor the extreme democrats. His enemies, not daring 
to attack him directly, assailed his friends one after another. First 
they prosecuted Pheidias, the sculptor, on the charge of embezzling 
some of the gold entrusted to him to be used in gilding the statue of 
Athena for the Parthenon. Although he was ready to prove his 
innocence by having the metal taken off and weighed, they threw 
him into prison, where he died of sickness. Then to punish Anax- 
agoras, the philosopher, for his attachment to Pericles, they drove him 
from Athens by threatening to prosecute him for impiety. About the 
same time As-pa'si-a was indicted for impiety and immorality. She 
was a Milesian by birth, a woman of remarkable intelligence. Pericles 
had divorced his wife, the mother of his two sons, and had taken 
Aspasia to his house, though his own law of 45 1 B.C. forbade him to 
marry an alien. She became the teacher of artists, philosophers, and 
orators, — the inspiring genius of the Periclean social circle. But the 
Athenians, who in this age had come to believe that a woman must 
be restricted to the house and must talk with no one outside of her 
own family, regarded Aspasia's conduct as immoral. They com- 
plained especially because their own wives went to the house 
of Pericles and learned the ideas and manners of this foreign woman. 
Happily Pericles by personal entreaty induced the judges to acquit 
her. While he was thus beset by private difficulties, war with Pelo- 
ponnese began to threaten. 



i6o 



The Age of Pericles 



Topics for Reading 

I. The Athenian Maritime Empire. — Botsford, Greece, pp. 169-171 ; Holm, 

History of Greece, ii. ch. xvii; Abbott, History of Greece, ii. pp. 367-374> i'i- PP- 
10-15; Whibley, Political Parties in Athens, pp. 14-25; Greenidge, Greek Con- 
stitutional History, pp. 189-204. 

II. Government of Athens under Pericles. — Botsford, Greece, pp. 172- 
179; Development of the Atlunian Constitution, -p^. 22i-2T,y, Holm ii. ch. xvi; 
Whibley, pp. 25-34; Greenidge, pp. 166-189. 

III. Art in the Age of Pericles. — Tarbell, History of Greek Art, chs. iii, viii; 
Gardner, Handbook of Greek Sculpture, ch. iii ; Holm, History of Greece, iii. ch. 
XX ; Curtius, History of Greece, Bk. III. ch. iii. 

IV. Herodotus. — Jebb, Greek Literature, pp. 103-106; Murray, Ancient 
Greek Literature, ch. vi; Curtius, History- of Greece (see Index); Holm, History 
of Greece, ii. ch. xx. 




Cecrops and Dauchii k 
(From the west pediment of the Parthenon) 



CHAPTER XI 

THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR TO THE END OF THE SICILIAN 
EXPEDITION (431-413 B.C.) 

136. Causes of the War.' — Before the year 431 b.c. a great majority 
of the states of Greece had been brought under the leadership of 
Athens or of Sparta. The peace of 445 B.C. was to last thirty years ; 
but scarcely half that period had elapsed when war broke out between 
the two powers. Sparta and her Peloponnesian allies, on the one 
hand, and the Athenians with their allies, on the other, were so un- 
like in character and in occupation that they could not understand 
or appreciate each other. Most of the Peloponnesians were Dorians. 
They made their living chiefly by agriculture, and preferred oligar- 
chic governments. The lonians, who formed the nucleus of the 
Athenian empire, were a commercial and manufacturing people, for 
the most part democratic. In addition to these differences the two 
great cities were rivals for the leadership of Greece ; and the growing 
power of Athens filled Sparta with jealousy and fear. 

The Athenians had trouble also with particular states of the League. 
The usual relations between Athens and Corinth had been extremely 
friendly ; but since the war with Persia, Peiraeus was monopolizing 
the commerce of the seas, and Corinth found herself painfully cramped 
in her trade. Furthermore, Athens was interfering between her and 
her colony, Corcyra. Corinth and Corcyra had fought for the posses- 
sion of Ep-i-dam'nus, a joint colony on the mainland. After suffering 
a severe defeat in battle, Corinth persuaded several of her neighbors 
to aid in preparing a great armament with which to overwhelm Cor- 
cyra. Thereupon the latter sent envoys to Athens to ask an alliance. 

M 161 



1 62 



TJie Peloponnesian War 



Corinthian ambassadors also came, and the two parties pleaded their 
causes before the Athenian assembly. Believing war with Lacedae- 
mon inevitable, Pericles felt that the navy of the Corcyraeans should 
by all means be secured for Athens. Upon his advice, therefore, it 

was resolved to make a defen- 
sive alHance with them ; and a 
small Athenian fleet was sent 
to aid them in defending their 
island against the great Corin- 
thian armament.* The Corin- 
thians were justly angry with 
this interference between 
themselves and their colonies, 
especially as they had several 
times prevented Lacedaemon 
from interfering in Athenian 
affairs. They asserted that 
Athens broke the treaty, and 
now exerted all their energy to 
stir up Peloponnese against the 
offender. 

At the same time they were 
urging Potidaea'^ to revolt. 
This Corinthian settlement in 
Chalcidice had grown into a 
prosperous city, now tributary 
to Athens. Garrisoned by a 




Victory 
(By Paeonius, about 420 B.C.; Olympia) 



force from the mother state, it revolted, whereupon the Athenians laid 
siege to the place. 

The Corinthians alleged that this was another violation of 
the treaty of 445 B.C. They persuaded the Lacedaemonians 
to call a congress of the League to consider the various griev- 
1 In the battle off Syb'o-ta, 432 B.C. 2 § 61, 



Resources 163 

ances against Athens (432 B.C.). When the deputies gathered, the 
Lacedaemonians invited them to bring their complaints before the 
Spartan assembly. Among those who had grievances were the Mega- 
rians. Athens had recently passed an act which excluded them from 
the ports and markets of Attica and of the empire. This, also, the 
Megarians averred, was a violation of the treaty. King Archidamus 
advised caution ; it would be wise, he said, to obtain a redress of 
wrongs by negotiation. But one of the ephors overrode his judgment, 
and persuaded the assembly to vote that the Athenians had broken 
the treaty. The Peloponnesian congress ratified the decision of the 
Spartan assembly, and declared war against Athens. 

137. The Resources of Athens and Sparta. — The empire of 
Athens, composed of subject states, was stronger than it had ever 
been before. Among her independent, allies were Chios, Lesbos, 
Thessaly, and Plataea, besides a few cities in Italy and Sicily. She 
had thirteen thousand heavy-armed troops, and a larger force for 
garrison service. There were three hundred triremes of her own be- 
sides those of the allies, and her sailors were the best in the world. 
She commanded the sea and its resources. The tributes from her sub- 
ject cities, together with other revenues, amounting in all to about a 
thousand talents a year, would be nearly enough, in case of siege, to 
support the whole Attic population on imported food. 

All the Peloponnesian states, except Argos and a part of Achaea, 
were in alliance with Lacedaemon ; and outside of Peloponnese, the 
Megarians, Boeotians, Locrians, and some others ; in Sicily and in 
Italy most of the Dorian cities sympathized with Sparta. The few 
commercial states of the League provided ships ; the others, land 
forces only. The League could muster an army of twenty-five thou- 
sand heavy-armed men. Though by no means a numerous force, it 
was the strongest in the world at that time. 

138. The First Three Years of the War (431-429 B.C.). — In 
the summer of the first year King Archidamus, at the head of a 
Peloponnesian army, invaded Attica. The plan of Pericles was to 



164 TJie Peloponnesian War 

venture no battle on land, but to bring the entire population into 
the city or behind the Long Walls, and to damage Peloponnese as 
much as he could with his fleet. While the invaders were devas- 
tating Attica, the Athenians were sailing round Peloponnese and 
ravaging the coasts. These operations were repeated nearly every 
year through the early part of the war. The removal of the country 
people to Athens was very painful. They were distressed at ex- 
changing the homes and shrines which they loved for the crowded 
city, where most of them could find no comfortable shelter. And 
when they saw their houses and orchards ruined by the enemy, 
they could not help being angry with Pericles. Nevertheless he 
considered his policy on the whole successful, as we may infer from 
the Funeral Oration ^ which he delivered in the autumn over those 
who had fallen in the campaigns of the year. This oration sets 
forth his high ideal of the Athenian state ; it praises those who 
gave their lives in defence of their country, and inspires the sur- 
vivors with noble sentiments. 

Next year Athens and Peiraeus were visited by a plague, which 
inflicted more terrible damage than the severest defeat in battle 
would have done. The people suffered because they were crowded 
together and lacked the comforts of life. Although many nobly 
risked their lives to attend their friends, the total effect was de- 
moralizing. The Athenians blamed Pericles for both war and 
plague, and gave vent to their grief and anger by fining him heavily. 
But soon they repented, and again elected him general with abso- 
lute power. 

Pericles died of the plague, and the leadership of the state passed 
into the hands of C/<?'<?«, a tanner (429 B.C.). Though no general, 
he had a remarkable talent for finance and was an orator of great 
force. In the main he followed the policy of Pericles. As the 
surplus in the treasury was soon exhausted by the war, the state 
levied a direct tax, and Cleon made himself very unpopular with 
1 Thucydides ii. 35-46. 



Lesbos 165 

the wealthy by his ruthlessness in collecting it. The more energetic 
he was in providing ways and means, the more the nobles hated 
him. They could not endure to see this upstart from the industrial 
class at the head of the government, compeUing them to pay in 
taxes the expenses of a war they did not favor. 

139. The Revolt of Lesbos (428-427 B.C.). — In the year after 
Cleon had come to the front, the oligarchs of Lesbos induced Myt- 
i-le'ne and the other cities of the island, except Me-thym'na, to 
revolt. There was danger, that all the maritime cities would follow 
this example. But the Peloponnesians were too slow in sending the 
promised aid, and the Athenians made desperate efforts to conquer 
the island. As a last resort (427 B.C.) the oligarchs of Mytilene 
armed the commons ; but the latter promptly surrendered the city 
to Paches, the Athenian commander. Thereupon he sent the 
oligarchs, who alone were guilty of revolt, to Athens, and kept 
guard over the other Myt-i-le-nae'ans, awaiting the judgment of 
the assembly. The Athenians were angry because the Lesbians 
had revolted without cause ; they feared, too, for the safety of their 
empire and, indeed, for their own lives. Under the excitement 
of the moment, they decreed to kill all the men of Mytilene 
and to enslave the women and children. A trireme was de- 
spatched to Lesbos with the message of death. Cleon, the author 
of this poHcy of terrorism toward the cities of the empire, wished 
to make an example of the Lesbians so that the other communities 
would fear to revolt. But on the next day the decree was recon- 
sidered in the assembly. One of the speakers, in opposing Cleon's 
policy, declared that it was unwise to destroy the innocent com- 
moners along with the guilty oligarchs. His opinion prevailed, and 
a second trireme reached Lesbos in time to countermand the bloody 
decree of the day before. But the thousand Lesbian oligarchs at 
Athens were massacred. The Athenians were severe enough in 
their punishment for rebellion without going the whole length of 
Cleon's desires. \\\ putting down this revolt, Athens passed the 



1 66 



The Peloponnesian War 



dangerous crisis and was again undisputed mistress of the Aegean 
Sea. 

Somewhat later in the summer (427 B.C.), P/aiaea, after a two 
years' blockade, surrendered to the Lacedaemonians. Two hun- 
dred Plataeans with a few Athenians fell into the hands of the 
enemy, who put them to death on the ground that they had done 
no service to the Peloponnesians in the present war. 

140. Demosthenes (426-425 B.C.). — The war now began to turn 
decidedly in favor of Athens. De-mos'the-nes, the ablest com- 
mander since the days of Themistocles 
and Cimon, defeated with great slaughter 
the Am-bra'ci-ots, who were helped by 
the Lacedaemonians (426 B.C.). His 
victory gave Athens a brilliant reputation 
and the military superiority in the western 
part of central Greece. Next year he 
seized Py'los, on the west coast of 
Peloponnese, and fortified it. This 
became a thorn in the side of Sparta, — 
a refuge for helots and a good basis for 
ravaging Laconia. It was a promon- 
tory with an excellent harbor protected by the island of Sphac-te'ri-a. 
Demosthenes held the place against repeated attacks of the Pelo- 
ponnesians. A select corps of the enemy landed on Sphacteria, and 
tried to carry his position by storm. The attempt failed ; the 
besiegers found themselves blockaded by an Athenian fleet ; and 
then, to save the troops on the island, they made a truce with 
Demosthenes with a view to negotiating for peace. 

Spartan envoys came to Athens to discuss the terms ; but as the 
demands of Cleon were too great for them to accept, the war con- 
tinued. 

Cleon's chief opponent at Athens was Nic'i-as, leader of the 
conservatives, who composed the peace party. Nicias was a good 




Brasidas 167 

ofificer, but too slow and stupid to lead an army or a political party. 
His chief recommendations were his respectable birth, his great 
wealth, his honesty, and his religion. Instead of conducting reen- 
forcements to Demosthenes, which was his duty as general, he 
surrendered his office to Cleon in the hope that the latter might 
meet with defeat at Pylos, and thus come to the end of his poHtical 
career. But on arriving at Pylos with reenforcements, Cleon wisely 
placed himself under the command of Demosthenes. The latter 
captured the troops of Sphacteria and brought them home, two 
hundred and ninety-two in number (425 B.C.). Though this success 
was due to Demosthenes, Cleon reaped the fruit of the victory. He 
was given the highest honors of the state, and his opinion prevailed 
on all questions in the assembly. The victory strengthened the 
hold of Athens on the empire, and enabled her to raise the tribute 
to a thousand talents, nearly double the former amount. This 
measure increased the Athenian resources for war. 

141. Brasidas; the Battle of Delium (424 B.C.). — In the year 
following the capture of Sphacteria, Nicias seized Cythera. From 
it the Athenians cut off the commerce of Lacedaemon and ravaged 
her coasts. This year saw the height of their success in the war and 
the beginning of their decline. Though their lands had often been 
ravaged, they had nearly made good the loss by plundering the coasts 
of Peloponnese ; and they now held two strong posts in the enemy's 
country, — Pylos and Cythera. But a certain Spartan ofificer named 
Bras'i-das discovered the one exposed point of the Athenian empire, — 
Chalcidice. It was the only part of the empire outside of Attica 
which the Peloponnesians could reach by land. Brasidas invaded 
this country with a small force of allies and emancipated helots. 
An exceptionally able commander and diplomatist, he induced several 
states of the empire to revolt, among them Am-phip'o-lis, the most 
important city in that region. The states which revolted became 
independent members of the Peloponnesian League. 

In this year the Athenians attempted to gain possession of all 



1 68 TJie Peloponnesian War 

Boeotia. Their plan failed, however, through mismanagement, and 
they suffered a severe defeat at Deliiim. 

142. The Peace of Nicias (421 B.C.). — In 422 b.c. Cleon, who 
had been elected general, tried to regain Amphipohs, but was 
defeated and slain. Brasidas was killed in the same battle. The 
death of these two men removed the chief obstacles in the way of 
peace. 

Both Athenians and Lacedaemonians desired peace. The con- 
servatives at Athens, who from the beginning had opposed the war, 
were brought into office by the defeat at Delium and by Cleon's 
recent failure before Amphipolis. Nicias, now the most eminent 
man at Athens, was their leader. The Lacedaemonians, for their 
part, were bitterly disappointed in the results of the war. They had 
hoped to crush the power of Athens in a few years at the most, but 
had suffered at Pylos the greatest reverse in their history. They 
were anxious also to recover the prisoners taken at Sphacteria, for 
many of them were no ordinary troops, but pure Spartans. Nicias 
carried on the negotiations as representative of his city, and the 
peace accordingly bears his name. It was concluded in 421 b.c. 
The essence of the treaty was the restoration of the relations which 
had existed before the war. This seemed at the time to be just, as 
the strong positions which Athens held in the enemy's country were 
offset by her recent defeats — at Delium and Amphipolis. Later 
events, however, proved that Athens lost greatly by the treaty. 

Peace was to last fifty years and was to extend to the allies on both 
sides. But those of Sparta, not having been consulted in the matter, 
now refused their assent; for they desired some concessions from 
Athens in return for the ten years' war. Sparta did her best to 
carry the treaty into effect ; but her allies so hindered her that she 
was compelled to give up the attempt. Though the treaty was 
therefore imperfectly carried out, the two cities did not directly 
attack each other for seven years, and the Athenians enjoyed the 
peace while it lasted. They returned to the country and began 



Alcibiades 169 

again the cultivation of their little farms, pleased to be free from their 
long confinement behind the walls. 

When it became known in Athens that the treaty with Sparta was 
a mere farce, the war party again came into power. The principal 
leader of this party was Al-ci-bi'a-des. He belonged to one of the 
noblest families of Athens and was a near kinsman of Pericles. 
Though still young, he was influential because of his high birth and 
his fascinating personality. His talents were brilliant in all direc- 
tions ; but he was lawless and violent, and followed no motive but 
self-interest and self-indulgence. Through his influence Athens aUied 
herself with Argos, Elis, and Man-ti-nei'a against the Lacedaemonians 
and their allies. The armies of these two unions met in battle at 
Mantineia in 418 B.C. The Lacedaemonians, who still had the best 
organization and discipline in Greece, were victorious. This success 
wiped out the disgrace which had lately come upon them and 
enabled them to regain much of their former influence in Pelopon- 
nese- Argos and Mantineia now made peace with Lacedaemon 
apart from Athens. 

In 416 B.C. Alcibiades persuaded Athens to send a fleet against 
Me'los, now the only Aegean island outside of her empire. It was 
a colony of Lacedaemon, but remained neutral till the Athenians 
began to attack it. They were acting on the principle that the 
Aegean Sea was theirs and all the islands in it. Insisting that the 
strongest had a right to rule, they tried to justify their own conquests 
by their mild treatment of subjects. Thus if the MeHans should 
surrender, they would be required merely to pay an annual tribute. 
But as Melos resisted, the Athenians blockaded the island and 
starved the inhabitants into surrender. They then killed all the men 
of military age and enslaved the women and children. Greek usage 
made it just for them to annex the island, but the slaughter of the 
conquered, though common in that age, has proved an indelible 
stain on the good name of Athens. 

143. Athens and the Western Greeks (479-416 B.C.). — In the 



I/O 



The Pc/oponnesian War 



winter following the conquest of Melos, envoys came from Se-ges'ta 
in Sicily, asking Athens to protect their city from Se-li'nus, a stronger 
state near by. To understand the feelings which this request awakened 
in the Athenians, it is necessary to run rapidly over the history of 
the western Greeks from the time of their war with Carthage. 

After the battle of Himera (480 b.c.),^ the Greeks of Sicily and 
Italy entered upon an era of great prosperity. The tyrants beautified 
their cities with temples and statues. Literature flourished, wealth 




Temple of Concordia at Acragas 
(Doric order; present appearance) 

abounded, and life was easy. Then tyranny was abolished, and 
before the middle of the century most of the cities of western 
Greece had introduced democratic governments. Syracuse, the 
greatest power in Sicily, led the Hellenic cities of the island in time 
of war, in some such way as Sparta had led the eastern Greeks dur- 
ing the Persian invasions. In this position Syracuse followed two 
nearly related lines of policy: (i) she maintained close friendship 

i§ 116. 



Western Greece 171 

with Sparta and with her mother city, Corinth; and (2) she aimed 
to bring all the Sicilian cities as thoroughly under her control as 
those of Peloponnese were under Sparta. In consequence of this 
policy, (i) Syracuse was hostile to Athens, the enemy of Corinth and 
Sparta, and (2) the Sicilian cities which disliked the rule of Syracuse 
looked to Athens for protection. 




Zeis axd Hera 
(A Metope from Selinus ; about 450 B.C.) 

From the time of Themistocles the Athenians took a more and more 
lively commercial interest in the West. They exported vases and 
other manufactured articles to Italy, Sicily, and Carthage. Com- 
merce gradually led to political influence ; Segesta, a foreign city, 
and the Ionian Rhe'gi-um and Le-on-ti'ni became their allies. When 
the Peloponnesian War began, the Dorians of the West gave their 



1 72 The Peloponnesian War 

sympathy to Sparta/ and at the same time Syracuse found in the- 
war an opportunity to encroach upon the Ionian cities, especially 
upon Leontini. Athens sent little aid, and Leontini was destroyed. 
144. Preparations for an Expedition to Sicily. (415 B.C.). — Natu- 
rally the Athenians looked upon this event as a great misfortune to 
themselves ; they feared lest the Dorians, if they should gain con- 
trol of Sicily, might furnish Sparta with troops and supplies in her 
war with Athens. Many Athenians even dreamed of adding Sicily 
to their empire. All were therefore deeply interested in the request 
of the Segestaeans for aid. The latter promised to pay the expenses 
of an expedition and grossly exaggerated the wealth of their city. 
Alcibiades urged the Athenians to conquer Sicily. His motive was 
doubtless selfish — to open a field in which he might display his 
talents and win fame. The project was unwise, for- the Athenians 
could do little more than hold their empire together and defend it 
against the Peloponnesians. Nicias advised the citizens in their 
assembly to drop all thought of the scheme, but his warnings were 
unheeded. The Athenians made ready in the spring of 415 B.C. to send 
a magnificent land and naval armament to Sicily. Ar-is-toph'a-nes, 
the comic poet, tells us how in Peiraeus the preparations for such 
an expedition — 

" Filled the city with a noise of troops: 
And crews of ships, crowding and clamoring 
About the muster-masters and paymasters; 
With measuring corn out at the magazine, 
And all the porch choked with the multitude; 
With figures of Athena newly furbished, 
Painted and gilt, parading in the streets; 
And wineskins, kegs, and firkins, leeks, and onions; 
With garlic crammed in pouches, nets, and pokes; 
With garlands, singing girls, and bloody noses. 
Our arsenal would have sounded and resounded. 
With bangs and thwacks of driving bolts and nails, 
With shaping oars, and holes to put the oars in; 

^ § 137- 



TJie Elciisinian Mysteries 1/3 

With hacking, hammering, clattering, and boring, 
Words of command, whistles, and pipes, and tifes." 

Alcibiades, Nicias, and Lam'a-chus — an able officer of the school 
of Pericles — were to conduct the expedition. To say nothing of 
the evils of a divided command, the characters of Nicias and Alci- 
biades were so utterly unlike as to give no prospect of harmony in 
the councils of war. 

One morning, when the armament was nearly ready to sail, the 
Athenians were horrified to find that the stone pillars of Hermes, 
which stood everywhere throughout the city at the doorways of 
temples and private houses, and which they held in great reverence 
as the guardians of peace and public order, had been nearly all muti- 
lated in the night. The citizens were overwhelmed with terror. They 
feared that a band of conspirators had attempted to deprive Athens 
of divine protection and would next try to overthrow the govern- 
ment. Some, without good cause, suspected Alcibiades. A court of 
inquiry was appointed to investigate the matter. It failed to dis- 
cover the perpetrators of this sacrilege, but learned that certain men, 
among them Alcibiades, had been profaning the Eleusinian mysteries 
by imitating them for amusement in private houses. These mys- 
teries were secret rites in the worship of De-me'ter and her daughter 
Per-seph'o-ne, the two goddesses of Eleusis, and were performed in 
the temple at that city in the presence of the initiated only. The 
Athenians found in the mystic ceremonies hope of happiness after 
death ; and believing further that the welfare of the state depended 
upon keeping them secret, the citizens were greatly alarmed at hear- 
ing that they had been profaned and divulged. Alcibiades in vain 
demanded a trial. His enemies feared that he would be acquitted 
through the support of the soldiers, with whom he was very popular. 
It would be safer, his opponents thought, to wait till the armament 
had departed and then recall him for trial. 

145. The Voyage; the Plans of the Admirals (415 B.C.). — The 
armament was to gather at Corcyra. The whole Athenian popula- 



174 



The Pclopoimesian War 



tion thronged the wharves of Peiraeus to watch the departure of the 
imperial city's force of a hundred galleys. The moment was full of 
tears and prayers, of anxiety and hope. The flower of Athenian 
strength was going forth to war, and some surmised that it would 
return no more. 

One hundred and thirty-four triremes and a great number of trans- 
ports and merchant ships assembled at Corcyra with five thousand 
heavy-armed men on board, besides light auxiliaries and the crews, 
Hellas had seen larger fleets than this but none so splendid or so for- 



PLAN OF 

SYRACUSE 




a. Athenian naval camp. 

b. Athenian fort. 

c. Height in the rear of the 

Athenian line. 

d. d. Athenian wall. 

k, I. Unfinished part of Athe- 
nian wall. 

}i, >i. Ancient walls of Syra- 
cuse. 

ill, m. New wall of Syracuse 

(415 B.C.). 

/;, /;. Third Syracusan cross- 
wall. 



midable. About the middle of the summer it began its voyage 
across the Ionian Sea toward Italy. 

But the western Greeks now gave Athens a cold reception. Even 
Rhegium, which had always been friendly, would not admit the Athe- 
nians within its walls. The great armament seemed a menace to the 
liberties of all alike. It soon appeared, too, that Segesta could fur- 
nish little support. Disappointed by such news, the admirals were in 
doubt as to what they should do. Lamachus wished to attack Syra- 
cuse immediately; Nicias preferred to display the fleet along the 
Sicilian coasts and then return home. Either plan would have 



TJic Siege of Syracuse 175 

been good ; but Alcibiades proposed instead to win over as 
many Sicilian cities as possible by negotiation. With all his genius 
for diplomacy, in this instance he miscalculated ; the Greeks of the 
West could not be won over by mere discussion. His unwise plan, 
however, was adopted. Yet before it had been followed far, Alcibi- 
ades was recalled to Athens for trial. He was to return in his own 
ship, and the official galley which had brought the summons was to 
accompany him. But on arriving at Thu'ri-i, he made his escape to 
Peloponnese, whereupon the Athenians sentenced him to death. 
The trick of his opponents had succeeded — probably to their satis- 
faction ; but it made of Alcibiades as dangerous an enemy as Athens 
ever had. 

146. The Siege of Syracuse (414-413 B.C.). — Nicias, who now 
held the superior command, trifled away the autumn in half-hearted 
undertakings and then wasted the winter at Cat'a-na. Meantime the 
Syracusans were enclosing their city with strong walls. In the spring 
of 414 B.C. the Athenians entered the Great Harbor and laid siege to 
Syracuse ; they began to build a wall which, if completed, would cut 
the city off from communication by land with the rest of the island. 
They were successful in several minor engagements \ but Lamachus 
was killed, and with his death the command lost allenergy. Still, the 
Syracusans were hard pressed and some of them were talking of sur- 
render, when the face of affairs was suddenly changed by the arrival 
of the Spartan Gy-lip'pus. He came with a small force and with the 
promise of a larger one then preparing in Peloponnese. The Lace- 
daemonians had sent him at the suggestion of Alcibiades, who was 
now in their city. Gylippus was a man of remarkable prudence and 
activity, and well acquainted with western Greece. The Syracusans 
immediately took the offensive ; they built and maintained against 
the besiegers a cross-wall extending from their outer line of defence 
on the north to the height in the rear of the Athenian position. This 
prevented the besiegers from finishing the northern part of their wall 
and secured a free communication with the country. At the same 



\y6 



The Peloponnesiaii War 



time the Syracusans were acquiring a navy sufficiently strong to ven- 
ture battle with the Athenian fleet. There was no longer any reason- 
able hope of taking Syracuse ; and Nicias would gladly have raised 
the siege, but dared not face the Athenian assembly after so great a 
failure. In the winter he wrote a letter to Athens, giving a detailed 
account of the situation and asking that either the armament be with- 
drawn or strong reenforcements sent. The Athenians would take no 




Stone Quarries at Syracuse 
(Interior view; the stakes and lines are modern rope-rnakers' works) 

thought of abandoning the enterprise, and prepared to send nearly 
as large a land and naval force as the original one,- and this, notwith- 
standing the fact that the war with Lacedaemon was now openly 
resumed. 

147. Agis in Attica; Ruin of the Athenian Armament (413 B.C.). — 
In the spring of 413 B.C. A'gis, king of the Lacedaemonians, ravaged 
Attica, which for twelve years had seen no enemy. At the sugges- 
tion of Alcibiades, he seized and fortified Dec-e-lei'a, a strong position 



Ruin lyy 

in the north of Attica, The Lacedaemonians continued to hold it 
winter and summer to the end of the war. The Athenians could now 
do no farming except under their very walls. They were obliged to 
keep perpetual watch about the city to prevent surprise, and their 
slaves deserted to the enemy in great numbers. But though they 
were themselves thus practically besieged by land, they sent to Syra- 
cuse a new fleet of seventy-three triremes and five thousand hoplites 
commanded by Demosthenes, their ablest general. On his arrival 
at Syracuse he found the army in a sorry plight and the fleet already 
defeated in the Great Harbor by the Syracusans. He saw that the 
Athenians must either resume active operations at once or abandon 
the siege. In the following night, accordingly, he attempted to take 
the Syracusan cross-wall by surprise, but was repulsed with great loss. 
In spite of his advice to put the array on board the fleet and sail 
away, his slow colleague, Nicias, delayed for some days. When 
finally Nicias consented and everything was ready for embarking, 
there was an eclipse of the moon, which filled him as well as the 
soldiers with superstitious fears. He would remain twenty-seven 
days longer, to avoid the effect of the evil omen. A man of sense 
would have explained to the soldiers that the omen was intended for 
the enemy, but so much could not be expected of Nicias. Before 
that time had elapsed the Athenians lost another naval battle, and 
the disheartened crews would fight no more. The Athenians then 
burned their ships and began to retreat by land, Nicias in advance 
and Demosthenes bringing up the rear. The two divisions were 
separated on the march, and both were compelled to surrender after 
severe losses. Probably forty thousand men had taken part in the 
Sicilian expedition, and twenty-five thousand were left to begin the 
retreat. Demosthenes and Nicias were both put to death. Many 
of the captives were sold into slavery ; many were thrown into the 
stone quarries near Syracuse, where most of them perished of expos- 
ure and starvation. The failure of the expedition was due to several 
causes, but chiefly to the stupidity and the superstition of Nicias. It 

N 



178 



TJie Pcloponnesian War 



compelled the Athenians at once to abandon all hope of conquering 
other peoples, and to consider instead how they could save them- 
selves and their empire from ruin. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Cleon. — Cox, Greek Statesman, '\: "Cleon;" Wo\ca, History of Greece, 
(see Index); Abbott, History of Greece (see Index). 

II. Sicily before the Athenian Invasion. — Botsford, Greece, pp. 140-143, 
163 f.; Holm ii. pp. 82-87, 4ii~4i3; AUcroft z.v^^'^\z.%o\\\. History of Sicily, 
chs. iv, V. 

III. The Sicilian Expedition. — Bury, History of Greece, pp. 466-484; 
Holm ii. ch. xxvii; YXvX^sc^a, Alcihiades : Nicias. 




Poseidon, Dionysus ? and Demeter ? 
(From the Parthenon Frieze.) 



CHAPTER XII 

THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE WAR (413-404 B.C.) 

148. Effects of the Sicilian Disaster (413 B.C.). — At first the 
Athenians could not believe the news of the disaster in Sicily, even 
when they heard it from the survivors themselves. As they came to 
realize the truth, they vented their rage upon the orators and the 
soothsayers who had persuaded them to engage in the enterprise. 
For a time they seemed overwhelmed with despair : while mourning 
their losses they feared that they should now have to contend against 
the whole Greek world, and they had no ships, no men, no money. 
But the spirit of Athens was elastic ; her hopes revived, and her 
citizens determined in some way to build a new fleet. At the same 
time they resolved to cut down expenses and to hold fast to their 
empire. Fortunately they had the winter for preparation before the 
enemy could attack. 

The Lacedaemonians and their allies, elated by the news, began 
to hope once more for success. As Athens could no longer protect 
her alliesj the Persian king now ordered his satraps, Tis-sa-pher'nes 
of Sardis and Phar-na-ba'zus of the country about the Hellespont, to 
collect from the Greek cities of Asia Minor the tributes which had 
been unpaid for seventy years. Each satrap requested of Sparta a 
fleet to operate in his own locality, promising to support it with Per- 
sian gold. As the Chians had revolted against Athens and were like- 
wise asking help, the Lacedaemonians resolved to send a fleet to aid 
them and Tissaphernes at once. The example of Chios was soon 
followed by other communities in the same region. Alcibiades him- 
self went thither from Sparta to encourage rebellion against his native 

179 



i8o The Closing Years of the War 

city. The Lacedaemonians then concluded an offensive and defen- 
sive alHance with Persia. The treaty, though afterward modified in 
important respects, still surrendered to Persia those cities of Asia 
Minor which Athens had protected against every enemy for nearly 
seventy years. 

149. Rebellion checked; Alcibiades (412 B.C.). — The Athenians 
put forth every energy to prevent the revolt from spreading. To 
Samos, their most faithful ally, they granted independence and made 
this island the base of their naval operations. The contending par- 
ties remained nearly balanced in strength, even after the arrival of a 
Syracusan fleet to help the Lacedaemonians ; but the resources of 
Athens were gradually exhausted, while those of the enemy seemed 
limitless. Such was the state of affairs when an unexpected event 
turned the war for a time in favor of Athens. Alcibiades, hated by 
King Agis and fearing for his life, went over to Tissaphernes and per- 
suaded him to keep back the Phoenician fleet, which was daily 
expected in the Aegean Sea. He convinced the satrap that it would 
be well to let Lacedaemon and Athens wear each other out in war. 
Alcibiades sincerely desired to return to Athens ; and in order to 
bring about his recall he aimed to win the gratitude of his country- 
men by making them think he could gain for them the friendship of 
Persia. He wished, too, to recover on his return the leadership of 
the democratic party. But a serious obstacle was in the way, — 
An'dro-cles, the present head of the party, was the very man who had 
sent him into exile. To accomplish his object, Alcibiades felt that 
he must first persuade others to overthrow the popular government 
along with the chief, and then himself step in to restore it. In the 
hght of a saviour of democracy he believed that he could return all- 
powerful to his native city. 

150. The Conspiracy of the Oligarchs (412-411 B.C.). — The time 
was ripe for a change of government at Athens, as the Sicilian disas- 
ter seemed to prove the failure of democracy. Some of the officers 
of the Athenian army at Samos, who were themselves of the wealthier 



The Four Hundred l8l 

class, favored the establishment of oligarchy, in which they thought 
they should have more of the privileges naturally belonging to men 
of their standing. Accordingly, when Alcibiades sent them word 
that he would return and make Tissaphernes an ally of Athens if 
they should set up an oligarchy, they readily consented. But when 
their spokesman came to Athens, the citizens met his proposals with 
a storm of indignation. They objected equally to changing the gov- 
ernment and to recalling the impious traitor Alcibiades. But the 
oligarch addressed the objectors one by one and asked them what 
else could be done. " How are we to raise money to support the 
war against both Persia and our many Greek enemies?" he asked. 
Unable to meet this pointed argument, the people gave way in the 
hope that they might renew the democracy at the close of the war. 
It soon appeared, however, that Alcibiades had grossly deceived the 
Athenians in making them believe he could win the help of Persia. 

The oligarchs proceeded, nevertheless, to carry out their designs. 
As a part of the programme, their clubs at Athens assassinated 
Androcles and other prominent democrats, and in this way terror- 
ized the whole state. Overestimating the extent of the conspiracy, 
the people feared to talk on the subject with one another, lest in so 
doing they might betray themselves to an enemy. This mutual 
distrust among the citizens made the conspirators safe. They man- 
aged to place the state under the control of a Council of Four Hun- 
dred, which included the principal oligarchs. This body was to rule 
with absolute power. 

151. The Rule of the Four Hundred (411 B.C.). — When organized, 
the Four Hundred assumed the reins of government. They ruled 
by force, assassinating, banishing, and imprisoning their opponents 
on mere suspicion. They showed their lack of patriotism by their 
willingness to make peace with Lacedaemon at any price, and their 
weakness by yielding Euboea to the enemy. 

News of the violence and cruelty of the Four Hundred came to 
the Athenian army at Samos. The soldiers assembled, declared that 



1 82 The Closing Ycixrs of the War 

Athens had revolted, and that they themselves constituted the true 
government of the empire. They deposed their oligarchic officers 
and filled the vacant places with popular men ; they prepared to 
carry on the war with vigor, and hoped through Alcibiades to win 
Persia to their side. Thrasy-bu'lus, one of the new commanders, 
brought the famous exile to their camp. A democrat once more, 
Alcibiades was immediately elected general and placed in chief com- 
mand of the army. Now he was ready to use all the resources of 
his mind to save Athens from the ruin he had brought upon her. 
To the envoys from the Four Hundred, he replied that this new 
council must abdicate immediately in favor of the old Council of 
Five Hundred. At the same time he prudently restrained the troops 
from going to Athens to punish the usurpers. 

The Four Hundred began to feel insecure. Lacking a definite 
policy, they split into two factions : the extreme oligarchs and the 
moderates. With the help of the moderates the citizens overthrew 
the Four Hundred, after a three months' rule, and restored the 
democracy. 

152. Alcibiades General of the Athenians (411 407 B.C.). — The 
Four Hundred had brought only misfortune to Athens. Under their 
slack rule the war extended to the Hellespont, and most of the 
cities in that region revolted. Soon, however, the Athenians were 
cheered by news of victories, especially of that at Cyz'i-cus, gained 
by Alcibiades in 410 h.c. "Ships gone, our admiral dead, the men 
starving, at our wits' end what to do," was the laconic message 
which reached Sparta from Cyzicus. Lacedaemon then proposed 
a treaty of peace which should leave Athens the few possessions she 
still held ; but the Athenians rejected the terms. It appeared 
doubtful whether a lasting peace could be secured without the com- 
plete triumph of one of the contending parties. The Athenians 
feared, too, that peace with Sparta would bring them another tyran- 
nical oligarchy in place of their free constitution ; and with Alcibi- 
ades as general they still hoped for success in the war. 



Arginusae 183 

In 408 B.C., however, Darius, king of Persia, despatched Cyrus, the 
younger of his two sons, to take the satrapy of Sardis from Tissa- 
phernes and to give all possible aid to the enemies of Athens. 
About the same time Ly-san'der, a born leader of men, a general 
and diplomatist of surpassing ability, came from Sparta to the seat 
of war. He visited Cyrus and easily won his way to the heart of 
the ambitious young prince. Next year he defeated a large Athe- 
nian fleet off No'ti-um, near Ephesus, capturing fifteen triremes. 
In the absence of Alcibiades, their admiral, the Athenians had risked 
a battle ; and as a result they suffered their first reverse since the 
time of the Four Hundred. As they held Alcibiades responsible for 
the misfortune, they failed to reelect him general for the following 
year. Fearing to return home, he retired to a castle on the 
Hellespont which he had prepared for such an occasion. Thus th3 
Athenians cast away a man who might have saved them. Though 
working to the end for his own glory, he was wiser now than in his 
youth and would have served his country well ; but the confidence 
of his fellow-citizens in one who had been so impious and so traitor- 
ous could not but be shaken by the slightest appearance of inatten- 
tion to duty.^ 

153. The Battle of Arginusae (406 B.C.). — The contending powers 
now put forth enormous efforts. In 406 B.C. the Athenians with a 
hundred and fifty triremes met a Peloponnesian fleet of a hundred 
and twenty triremes near the islands of Ar-gi-nu'sae, and gained a 
complete victory. Athens lost twenty-five ships ; the enemy seventy, 
with their commander and crews, amounting to about fourteen thou- 
sand men. This was the severest battle of the war. After hearing 
of their disaster the Lacedaemonians were willing for the sake of 
peace to leave Athens what she still possessed ; but the Athenians 
again rejected the conditions. 

The Athenians disgraced themselves for all time by putting to 

1 Afterward, while residing in Phrygia, he was assassinated by order of the 
Spartan authorities. 



1 84 



The Closing Years of the War 



death six of the generals who had won the victory at Arginusae, on 
the ground that they had neglected to rescue the crews of the tri- 
remes wrecked in the battle. The commanders had ordered two 
ship-captains to attend to the work, but a sudden storm had pre- 
vented the rescue of the unfortunate sailors. The Athenians violated 
the constitution in condemning the generals collectively and in 
refusing them a sufficient opportunity for defence. Soon repenting 
of their conduct, they prosecuted those who had persuaded them to 
commit the murder, 

154. The Battle of Aegospotami (405 B.C.). — Athens and Sparta 
made one more desperate effort to gain the mastery of the Aegean 




Sea. The opposing fleets met in the Hellespont, — a hundred and 
eighty Athenian warships against two hundred from Peloponnese. 
The Athenians were on the European side at the mouth of the 
Ae-gos-pot'a-mi, the Peloponnesians on the opposite shore at Lamp'- 
sa-cus. Lysander, who was in command, would not engage. For 
five days the Athenians sailed forth to offer battle, and for the fifth 
time retired with their challenge unaccepted. Leaving their ships 
along the shore, they dispersed as usual to gather food through the 



Peace 



185 



neighborhood. At this time the Peloponnesians came with their 
whole fleet and found most of the enemy's triremes empty. The 
crews, returning hurriedly, fell into the hands of Lysander, who 
massacred three thousand Athenians to punish them for having 
killed prisoners of war. In reality Athens and Lacedaemon were 
equally to blame in this respect. It seems probable that the Athe- 
nians were betrayed to Lysander by one or more of their generals. 
Co'non alone of the commanders escaped with a few ships ; and 
sending the official galley Far'a-lus to Athens with the news, he, 
though innocent, fled for his hfe with the rest of his ships to Cyprus. 
155. Effects of the Battle ; the Terms of Peace (404 B.C.). — " It 
was night when the Paralus reached Athens with her evil tidings, on 
receipt of which a bitter wail of woe broke 
forth. From Peiraeus, following the line 
of the Long Walls up to the heart of the 
city, it swept and swelled, as each man 
passed the news to his neighbor. That 
night no man slept. There was mourning 
and sorrow for those who were lost, but 
the lamentation for the dead was merged 
in even deeper sorrow for themselves, as 
they pictured the evils they were about to 
suffer, the hke of which they had inflicted 
upon the men of Melos," ' and upon many 
others. Ships and men were lost, and 
they were soon besieged by land and sea. 
But no man dared speak of submission. 
Finally, when on the point of starvation, 
they sent envoys to Sparta with fuU powers 
to treat for peace. Thereupon a Peloponnesian congress was held 
in Sparta, in which the Corinthians, the Thebans, and some others 
proposed to destroy Athens utterly, and to enslave the Athenians. 
^ Xenophon, Hellenica, ii. 2. 




A Sepulchral Ornament 

OF Marble 
(National Museum, Athens) 



1 86 



The Closing Years of the War 



But the Spartan ephors objected ; they were unwilling, they said, that 
a city which had done such noble service for Greece in the perilous 
times of the Persian invasion should be enslaved. They would be 
content with milder conditions : that Athens should demolish the 
fortifications of Peiraeus and the Long Walls, give up all her warships 
but twelve, follow Sparta in peace and in war, and permit the return 
of the exiled oligarchs. With these concessions, Athens might remain 




Erechtheium 

free and " under the constitution of the fathers." As the Athenian 
envoys entered their city a great crowd gathered about them trem- 
bUng lest their mission should have proved fruitless ; for many were 
already dying of starvation. The majority ratified the treaty. 
Lysander entered Peiraeus with his fleet, the exiles were already 
coming home, and the Peloponnesians began the destruction of the 
walls to the music of flutes, with the idea that they were celebrating 
the return of liberty to Hellas. 



The Draina 



187 



The Progress of Culture^ 

156. Art, Literature, and Philosophy. — In spite of the heavy 
expenses of the war, the Athenians built the Erechtheium — doubt- 
less fulfiUing the wish of Pericles.^ In art they accomplished little 
for want of money, but the number of their excellent authors was 
increasing. 

Ell-rip'' i-des (480-406 B.C.), a writer of dramas, belongs to this 
period. His education was broad ; he had been an athlete, a painter, 
and a student of all the phi- 
losophy of the time. No 
ancient writer seems so modern 
as he ; none knew human na- 
ture so .well or sympathized so 
deeply with it, especially with 
women and slaves, with the 
unfortunate and the lowly. 
His plays represent a decline 
in art but a great advance in 
kindly feeling. The most 
popular is the Al-ces'Hs, in 
which the heroine dies to save 
her selfish husband's hfe. 
Among the strongest is the 11 
Medeia, whose plot is drawn 
from the voyage of the Argo- 
nauts. ^ There remain in all 
seventeen plays of the ninety-two attributed to him by the ancients. 

The most famous comic dramatist of Greece was Aristophanes 
(about 450-385 B.C.). His wit never failed ; his fancy was as lively 
and as creative as Shakspere's ; the choruses of his plays are beautiful 

1 Those teachers who wish to follow the political narrative without interruption 
may omit § 156. '^ % nZ- ^ § 49- 




Euripides 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



1 88 The Closing Years of the War 

lyrics, fragrant of the country and woodland, free from the polish 
and from the restraints of life within the city. He has much, too, to 
tell of the times in which he lived. No one has given so true a 
picture of Athens and her people, and at the same time such carica- 
tures of her individual public men. We might compare his character 
sketches with the cartoons of the modern newspaper. The Clouds 
is an attack on the sophists. In his Birds he pictures an ideal state 
in Cloudland, whose citizens were the fowls of the air. The Knights 
holds Cleon up to ridicule ; the Wasps presents the Athenian jury- 
system in a comical light. He is said to have written fifty-four 
comedies, of which we have but eleven. 

Thucydides wrote a history of the Peloponnesian War, including 
the events which led up to it. He says : " Very likely the strictly 
historical character of my narrative may be disappointing to the ear. 
But if he who desires to have before his eyes a true picture of the 
events which have happened, and of the like events which may be 
expected to happen hereafter in the order of human things, shall 
pronounce what I have written to be useful, then I shall be satisfied. 
My history is an everlasting possession, not a composition to be 
heard and forgotten." ^ In contrast with Herodotus he is not only 
critical but exceedingly complex in style and thought. As his work 
was to be of service especially to generals, he narrated campaigns 
with all the details, but paid little attention to internal improvements 
and civilization. 

The sophists'^ continued to teach to young men the short, easy 
road to oratory and statesmanship which they professed to have dis- 
covered ; and they were equally active in spreading their sceptical 
doctrines. The worthlessness of their teachings, however, was pointed 
out by Socrates (469-399 B.C.), a man whose thoughts and charac- 
ter have left a deep impression on the world for all time. In his 
youth he was but a sculptor — a tradesman from the Greek point of 
view ; and he did not succeed in his work, as he had the habit of 
1 i. 22. 2 § 134, 



Socrates 



189 



standing for hours, or even for a day and night together, wholly lost 
in thought. Then, too, he beheved himself inspired, — a spirit 
accompanied him through hfe warning him against doing evil. For- 
saking an occupation in which, under the circumstances, he could 
make but a poor living, he devoted himself to searching for truth. 
The sophists had sai'^, "We are ignorant"; Socrates, admitting this, 
heralded a new ei m 
thought when hv. '^"' 1, "I 
will seek knowleogv.^," 
thus asserting, contrary 
to the sophists, the possi- 
bility of learning the 
truth. Though people 
called him sophist, he 
gave no course of study 
and charged no fee, but 
simply questioned any 
one whom he met till he 
had convinced his op- 
ponent in the argument 
that the latter knew noth- 
ing of the subject of con- 
versation. In all this he 
thought he was fulfilling 
a heaven-appointed mis- 
sion, — the quest of truth 
with the help of his fellow-men. Taking no thought of natural or of 
physical science, he busied himself with moral duties, inquiring, for 
instance, what was just and what unjust ; what was bravery and what 
cowardice ; what a state was and what the character of a statesman. 
True knowledge, he asserted, was the only guide to virtuous conduct. 
He even went so far as to say that knowledge and virtue were one 
and the same thing. Practically, this means little more than that a 




Socrates 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



1 90 The Closing Years of the IVai- 

man should learn to think accurately and then follow the commands 
of his reason. In this way Socrates laid for ethical science a solid 
foundation, on which men could build far better than on the sands 
of sophistry. 

His teachings benefited Athens ; a few years after the war, how- 
ever, his fellow-citizens, mistaking him for a sophist, condemned him 
to death on the ground that he had corrupted the youth, and had 
acted impiously toward the gods of the state (399 B.C.). 

The period which we have now reviewed (479-404 b.c.) was in 
some respects the most brilliant in the history of Greece. Demo- 
cratic institutions, which assured the freedom and equality of the 
citizens, reached a high degree of development in the Athens of 
Pericles, and in some other democratic states. Then came a long, 
severe struggle between democracy and oligarchy (431-404 b.c), in 
which the latter won a temporary victory. It was the age of dramatic 
poetry, of the noblest historical writing, and of the grand in art — the 
age of the most vigorous political and intellectual activity of the Greeks. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Th# Four Hundred. — Thucydides, viii. 65-97; Bury, History of Greece, 
pp. 4S9-496; Whibley, Greek Oligarchies, pp. 192-207. 

II. The Battle of Arginusae. — Holm, History of Greece, ii. pp. 502-504; 
Abbott, History of Greece, iii. pp. 441-449. 

III. Lysander. — Plutarch, Lysander, Agesilaus ; Xenophon, Works, trans- 
lated by Dakyns (see Index); Grote, History of Greece (see Index). 

IV. Socrates. — Jebb, Greek Literature, p. 125 f.; Murray, Ancient Greek 
Literature, pp. 170-177; Sankey, Spartan and Theban Supremacies^ ch. iv; 
Gildersleeve, Essays and Studies, " Xanthippe and Socrates." 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE END OF FREEDOM IN SICILY AND IN ITALY (413-264 B.C.) 

157. The Carthaginians invade Sicily (409-404 B.C.). — The fall 
of Athens was a great misfortune to the Greeks of the West as well as 
to those of the East. For nearly seventy years the terror of her 
name had kept both the Carthaginians and the Persians at bay ; but 
on the overthrow of her naval supremacy these two great foreign 
powers again hoped to conquer parts of Hellas. On the invitation of 
Segesta, which was still threatened by Selinus/ Carthage sent over to 
Sicily a vast fleet conveying an army of a hundred thousand men 
under King Han'ni-bal, grandson of that Hamilcar who had met his 
death at Himera. This great armament laid siege to Selinus ; on 
the ninth day it stormed the city and butchered the inhabitants 
(409 B.C.). Thence Hannibal marched to Himera, where the siege 
and the massacre were repeated. Three thousand captives were led 
to the spot where Hamilcar had sacrificed himself/ and there were 
killed with horrid torture. In this way Hannibal sought to appease 
the hungry appetite of his grandfather's ghost. 

A fresh army of mercenaries next invested Acragas, then the 
wealthiest and most luxurious city in the Greek world. But a pesti- 
lence in the camp killed many of the besiegers, including Hannibal. 
Hi-mil'con, the second in command, propitiated the angry gods with 
a multitude of sacrifices, among them a boy — perhaps his own son. 
Though reenforced by their neighbors, the inhabitants finally aban- 
doned their city and settled in Leontini. Himilcon took up his 
winter quarters in deserted Acragas, and sent much of its wealth, 
including many works of art, to Carthage (405 B.C.). 

M 143- ^§116. 

191 



192 The End of Freedom in Sicily and in Italy 

The Sicilians felt that Acragas had been lost through the treachery 
of Syracusan generals sent to defend it. A young officer of Syracuse, 
named Di-o-nys'i-us, accused them in a public assembly. He 
persuaded the people to depose them and to elect himself and 
others in their place. Then by bringing charges of treason against 
his colleagues, he soon had them put out of office and himself made 
sole commander with absolute power. Immediately securing a body- 
guard of a thousand mercenaries, he made himself tyrant of his 



Temple Ruins at Selinus 

native city. Next he compelled the people of Ge'la and of Cam-a-ri'na 
to abandon their cities to the invader and to retire to Syracuse. 
Great was the indignation of all classes against the usurper ; but 
through his mercenaries he maintained himself against every attempt 
to assassinate or to depose him. In 404 B.C. he concluded a treaty 
with the Carthaginians by which he yielded to them the whole island 
except the Sicels — a native nation in the interior — and the Greeks 
of the eastern coast. The Carthaginians, for their part, acknowledged 
him as the absolute ruler of Syracuse. 

158. "War with Carthage (397-392 B.C.). — But Dionysius did not 



Dionysius 



193 



intend to yield Sicily forever to the enemy. Seven years he busied 
himself with increasing his power and with preparing for war on a 
grand scale. He built an immense wall about Syracuse ; he organized 
an army of eighty thousand infantry; his engineers invented a new 
instrument, afterward known as the ballista, for throwing large stones 
against the enemy's walls. In his new fleet were more than three 





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hundred vessels, some of them quinqueremes, — huge galleys with 
five banks of oars, invented by his shipwrights. Though utterly 
unscrupulous, though he ground down the rich with taxes and violated 
nearly every sentiment dear to the Greek heart, yet he gained a 
certain degree of popularity by the military preparations which made 
him appear as a strong champion of Hellas against the barbarian. 

He began war upon Carthage in 397 B.C., and with his vast arma- 
ment nearly swept the Phoenicians firom the island ; but in the fol- 
lowing year Himilcon, landing in Sicily, regained everything which 



194 



Tlie End of Freedom in Sicily and in Italy 





Carthage had lost, and Messene in addition. Most of the Messenians 
escaped, but Himilcon compelled his men to burn the woodwork 
and to grind the stones to powder. The invaders then defeated the 
fleet of Dionysius and besieged the tyrant in Syracuse by land and 
sea. The newly built ramparts saved the city. A pestilence 
weakened the besiegers ; the Greeks, taking courage, set fire to the 

Carthaginian fleet in 
the Great Harbor and 
from their walls 
watched the burning 
of two thousand ships. 
The siege was raised 
and the enemy pushed 
back till he held but 
the extreme western 
end of the island. 
All the rest Dionysius 
secured by the treaty 
of 392 B.C. 

159. Conquests of 
Dionysius in Italy 
(10287 B.C.); other 
Wars. — Even while 
w-aging war with Carthage, Dionysius had begun to threaten the 
Greeks of Italy, and after concluding peace he renewed his 
efforts to annex Magna Graecia to his own dominion. As the Italian 
Greeks were assailed at the same time by the Lu-ca'ni-ans, a strong 
tribe from the interior, they could do nothing but yield to Dionysius. 
In the year 38 7 b.c. we find his kingdom in Italy extending as far as 
Croton. Some of the conquered people he removed to Syracuse, 
others he sold into slavery. Everywhere he showed the utmost dis- 
regard for sacred places and institutions, but the Greeks were power- 
less to resist. 



KINGDOM OF 

DIONYSIUS 

86.7 B.C. 



His CJiaracte}' 195 

In two more wars which he carried on with Carthage, he failed to 
dislodge the foreigners from Sicily, but still held the larger part of 
the island as well as his Italian possessions. He aided the Lacedae- 
monians in maintaining their supremacy over eastern Greece,' and 
his power was recognized as the greatest in the Hellenic world. 

160. Dionysius in Peace; his Character. — Though engaged in 
wars to the end, in his later years a desire for peace grew upon him. 
He was a poet as well as a general. A story is told that Phi-lox'e-nus, 
a poet at his court, was imprisoned in a stone quarry as a punishment 
for criticising the tyrant's verse. When liberated soon afterward 
and invited to hear another recital, he endured the reading for a few 
moments, and then cried out, "Take me back to the stone quarry !" 
A splendid display of horses and chariots, of athletes and actors, which 
Dionysius made at the Olympic games, in like manner won no 
applause. The orator Lys'i-as, from Athens, tried to incite the Greeks 
there assembled to begin war upon the tyrant by plundering his rich 
tents. The holiness of the festival prevented this outrage, but the 
reciters of his poems were hissed and his chariots were overturned in 
the race. So far from winning the favor and admiration of the 
Greeks by his exhibit, the tyrant discovered that he was universally 
hated. 

About this time Plato, the Athenian philosopher, visited the court 
of Dionysius, and tried to persuade the tyrant to rule according to 
the philosopher's lofty ideas of justice. Dionysius answered his 
arguments by having him exposed for sale in a slave-market. A 
friend ransomed him, however, and he returned to Athens.^ 

In 367 B.C. Dionysius died, after reigning thirty-eight years. No 
tyrant could have ruled so long without the possession of strong 
qualities. The private character of Dionysius was without reproach. 
On the other hand, he never hesitated at bloodshed, confiscation of 
property, or anything else which would make him safe. Many spies 
in his pay watched the movements of those whom he suspected at 
M 171- -§189. 



1 96 The Efid of Freedom in Sicily mid in Italy 

home and abroad. With all his failings he performed a service for 
Greece and for Europe by protecting Hellenic civihzation in Italy 
and Sicily. 

161. Civil Strife (367-345) ; Timoleon the Liberator (345-337 B.C.). 
— A period of civil strife following the death of Dionysius was at 
length ended by Ti-mo'le-on, a general sent out by Corinth. Timo- 
leon was a man of remarkable ability and strength of character. 
Gradually he overthrew the tyrants who since the death of Dionysius 
had usurped the power in many Sicilian cities. He then gave the 
cities good laws and settled governments. On the Cri-mi'sus River 
he met the vast mercenary force of Carthage which had 
come to Sicily for the purpose of overwhelming him. As his 
small army marched up the hill from the top of which the soldiers 
expected to get their first view of the enemy, their religious fears 
were aroused at sight of a train of mules laden with parsley, — a 
plant used for decorating tombs. But with the exclamation that the 
parsley chaplet was the reward of victory in the Isthmian games, 
Timoleon seized some of the plant and made a wreath for his head ; 
the officers, then the soldiers, followed his example ; and the army 
swept over the hill like a host of victorious athletes. Throwing his 
enthusiastic troops upon the Carthaginian centre, which had just 
crossed the Crimisus, he crushed it with one mighty blow. A 
sudden storm beat full in the faces of the enemy ; thousands 
were drowned in attempting to recross the swollen stream, and 
thousands were killed or made captive. The victory was complete 
(340 B.C.). 

When he had liberated all Greek Sicily from Carthage and from 
tyranny, he joined the cities in a federation, with Syracuse as leader 
in war. All members of the union were guaranteed their freedom. 
He next turned his attention to the improvement of the country. 
As the long anarchy had left large tracts of land uncultivated and 
without owners, he invited Greeks from other countries to come and 
settle on the vacant farms. Thousands answered the call ; a few 



Pyrrhus 1 97 

peaceful years brought prosperity to fruitful Sicily, and Timoleon 
lived to see the desolate island bloom again like a garden. 

After ruling eight years, he resigned his dictatorship and passed 
the remainder of his days a private citizen of Syracuse, honored by 
all as their liberator. When he died his fellow-citizens established 
an annual festival in memory of the man " who had suppressed the 
tyrants, had overthrown the foreigner, had replenished the desolate 
cities, and had restored to the Sicilians the privilege of living under 
their own laws. 

162. The Roman Conquest — The golden age of Timoleon was 
not to continue long. Syracuse again fell under a tyrant (317 B.C.), 
and again the Carthaginians began to encroach upon her territory. 
In 280 B.C. Pyrrhus, king of Epeirus, a man of great mihtary genius, 
came to western Greece with a well-organized army to save his 
countrymen from the Carthaginians and from a new enemy — Rome, 
which was beginning to press upon the Greek cities of Italy. Though 
he gained brilliant victories over Rome, and confined the Phoeni- 
cians of Sicily to one walled town, the ungrateful Greeks refused him 
their support ; so he was compelled, after wasting his army, to return 
defeated to Epeirus (274 B.C.). Rome immediately annexed southern 
Italy to her own domain, then drove the Carthaginians from Sicily, 
and finally made this island a province in her empire.^ 

The history of Magna Graecia after Dionysius is similar to that 
of Sicily. Tarentum, hard pressed by the Lucanians, begged Pyrrhus 
to lend aid. His story, already outhned, will be told more fully in 
connection with the history of Rome.- The western Greeks fell 
under the power of Rome because their desire for local indepen- 
dence would not permit them to unite or to endure the dictatorship 
of able men. 

1 Pt. III. ch. V. 2 § 238. 



198 The End of Freedom in Sicily and in Italy 

Topics for Reading 

I. Dionysius. — Bury, History of Greece, pp. 639-666; Holm, History of 
Greece, ii. pp. 521-525, iii. pp. 130-141. 

II. Timoleon. — Plutarch, Timoleon ; Holm iii. pp. 401-404; Bury, pp. 
673-679; Grote, History of Greece, xi. pp. 1 35- 197. 



CHAPTER XIV 



THE SUPREMACY OF SPARTA (404-371 B.C.) 



163. The Decarchies. — The overthrow of Athens, at the end of 
the Peloponnesian War/ left Sparta supreme in the east as Syracuse 
was in the west. At the summit of power stood Lysander, who had 
done more than any other 
man to bring eastern 
Greece under Spartan 
leadership. He now 
had an excellent oppor- 
tunity to improve upon 
the rule of Athens; but 
though a man of rare 
talents, he lacked the 
genius for such a task. 
He could think of noth- 
ing beyond the long- 
established Spartan and 
Athenian methods of 
dealing with alhes and 
subjects. 

In each newly allied 
state, accordingly, he 
set up a decarchy, or spartan Vask 

board of ten oligarchs, with full control of the government. To sup- 
port the decarchies, he stationed Lacedaemonian garrisons in most 
of the cities. The commander, termed " harmost," was usually a man 

' § 155. 
199 




200 The Supremacy of Sparta 

of low birth, servile to Lysander and brutal toward the defence- 
less people over whom he kept watch. Relying on his sup- 
port, the oligarchs killed or expelled their political enemies, 
confiscated property through sheer greed, and mistreated the 
women and children. While Athens ruled, a man could feel 
that life, property, and family were safe ; but under Sparta the 
Greeks found themselves degraded to the condition of perioeci 

(§ 87). 

164. The Thirty at Athens (404-403 B.C.). — At Athens Lysander 
caused a board of thirty to be established with absolute authority 
over the state. The guiding spirit of the board was Crit'i-as, a noble 
of the highest rank. He was a musician and a poet, a rhetorician, 
philosopher, and politician. With all his varied accomplishments, he 
had no depth or strong feelings, but was cold and calculating, ambi- 
tious and unscrupulous ; within his short career he developed a 
strange appetite for blood and plunder. 

Soon after taking possession of the government, the Thirty began 
to kill their political opponents. For their own safety, they called 
in a Lacedaemonian force of seven hundred men, and lodged it in 
the Acropolis at the expense of the state. Supported by these troops, 
the Thirty proceeded with their bloody work. As they often 
murdered men for their property, they preferred wealthy victims, 
whether alien residents or aristocrats. Hundreds fled into exile ; 
but the Spartan ephors, to uphold the Thirty, warned the fugitives 
away from all parts of Greece. Some of the states sheltered them 
in defiance of the ephors. Thebes, long the enemy of Athens, 
became their rallying-place. Their number daily increased owing to 
the cruelty of the government at home. 

165. Democracy restored (403 B.C.) . — The crowd of exiles swelled 
into an army. At the head of seventy patriots, Thrasybulus crossed 
the border from Thebes, seized Phy'le, a strong fort high up on Mount 
Par'nes, and held it against an attack of the enemy. With his army 
increased to a thousand, he soon afterward seized Peiraeus. When 



Cyrus 201 

the Thirty with their Lacedaemonian garrison and citizen supporters 
marched down to attack him, the patriots defeated them and killed 
Critias. Lysander interfered to uphold the tyrants, but Pausa- 
nias, a Spartan king, through jealousy of Lysander gave his aid with 
more effect to the patriots. 

The king persuaded the supporters of the oligarchy and the 
returned exiles to be friends to each other. All were pardoned for 
wrong-doing except the Thirty and a few other guilty officials. The 
Athenians now had enough of oligarchy. Their two recent experi- 
ments in that form of constitution — the rule of the Four Hundred 
and of the Thirty — proved that the government of the so-called 
" better class " was a delusion and a lie, and that the men who 
claimed superior privileges on the ground of virtue were in reality 
cutthroats and robbers. The great mass of people, who had little 
wealth or education, were far more obedient to law and exercised 
greater self-control in public life. Henceforth Athens was content 
with democracy. 

166. The Expedition of Cyrus (401 B.C.). — Although the Thirty 
fell, the Lacedaemonians upheld the decarchies in the other cities 
of their empire. It was a part of their policy as well to keep on 
good terms with Cyrus, who had done so much to give them the vic- 
tory over Athens. On the death of Darius, the late king of Persia, 
Ar-tax-erx'es, his elder son, succeeded to the throne, while Cyrus, 
the younger, still held at Sardis the command of the most desirable 
part of Asia Minor.^ Wishing to be king in place of his brother, 
Cyrus prepared a force of a hundred thousand Asiatic troops and 
thirteen thousand Greeks. The Lacedaemonians not only favored 
his enlistment of these mercenaries from Greece, but even sent him 
seven hundred heavy-armed troops from their own state. With these 
forces the prince marched into the very heart of the Persian empire, 
and met his brother in battle at Cu-nax'a, near Babylon. Cyrus was 
killed and his Asiatics retired from the field ; but the little Hellenic 

^ § 152. 



202 The Supremacy of Sparta 

force was victorious over the king's army, which numbered four hun- 
dred thousand or more. 

Then the Greeks, under a truce, began their retreat in a northerly 
direction. Their generals were entrapped and slain by Tissaphernes, 
a rival of Cyrus, but they appointed new leaders. And though they 
were beset on all sides by enemies and were traversing a country 
wholly unknown to them and exceedingly difficult of passage, they 
kept their courage and discipline, and proved by their conduct that 
the Greeks were able to govern themselves. More than eight thou- 
sand reached the Black Sea in safety and thence returned to Greece. 
Xen'o-phon, an Athenian of the school of Socrates, the philosopher, 
was the inspiring genius of the retreat ; it was owing to his prudence 
and eloquence that the army held together at critical moments. If 
the story of the retreat of the "Ten Thousand," which Xenophon 
tells so interestingly in his An-ab'a-sis, is true, the author must have 
been one of the ablest commanders of his age (§§ 156, 189). 

167. "War between Lacedaemon and Persia (beginning 400 B.C.). — 
The expedition of Cyrus had two important effects : (i) it brought 
the Persian power into contempt among the Greeks; and (2) it 
immediately caused war between Persia and Lacedaemon. For this 
state, by supporting Cyrus, had incurred the anger of the Persian 
king. A strong force of Peloponnesians crossed to Asia Minor, and 
joining the remnant of the Ten Thousand, began war upon the 
Persians. In 396 b.c. A-ges-i-la'us, who had recently succeeded to 
one of the thrones at Sparta, came with a few thousand additional 
troops and took command in person. The little lame king was gentle 
and courteous. Faithful in friendship, simple in life, and incorruptible, 
he was an ideal Spartan. Though forty years of age at his accession, 
he was wholly without experience in command ; but he proved him- 
self an able king and general. With his small army he freed the 
Greeks of Asia IVIinor from the Persian yoke. As the expedition of 
Cyrus had taught him how weak Persia was, he even hoped to over- 
throw her empire. This conquest, when effected, was to give the 



TJic Corinthian War 



203 



Greeks an almost boundless field for commerce and colonization. 
Now that it was suggested, they never lost sight of the idea till it was 
realized.^ 

168. The Corinthian War ('395-387 B.C.). — The dream of Agesi- 
laus was rudely disturbed by trouble at home. Sparta was selfish and 
tyrannical ; the greater allied states, as Thebes and Corinth, wished a 
share in her supremacy; the lesser communities desired at least their 





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Citadel of Corinth 



independence. As they were all disappointed in their hopes, they 
began to show discontent. In 395 b.c. they provoked Lacedaemon 
to a war which lasted eight years. This is called the Corinthian War, 
because the struggle centred chiefly about Corinth and the Isthmus. 
Athens, Corinth, and several other states took the side of Thebes, 
while Persia supplied the funds. 

In the second year of the war, a combined Greek and Phoenician 
fleet under Conon,- the Athenian admiral, destroyed the fleet of 
^ § 192. 2 § 154. 



204 TJie Supremacy of Sparta 

Lacedaemon off CtiVdus. Thus the Spartan naval supremacy fell at 
a single blow. Conon sailed from island to island, expeUing the har- 
mosts and freeing all from Lacedaemonian rule. The next year he 
anchored his fleet in the harbors of Peiraeus, and with the help of 
Persia and of the neighbors of Athens he began to rebuild the Long 
Walls. 

Nearer home the Lacedaemonians were scarcely more fortunate. 
Lysander was killed ; King Pausanias proved incapable ; it became 
necessary therefore to recall Agesilaus. This was a grievous blow to 
his hopes ; both commander and soldiers regretted to give up the war 
with Persia in order to turn their arms against their fellow-Hellenes. 
" To aid the fatherland," he said to the Asiatic Greeks, " is an imper- 
ative duty. If, however, matters turn out well on the other side, 
rely upon it, friends and allies, I will not forget you, but shall be back 
anon to carry out your wishes." But the victories he gained on his 
return helped Sparta little. She received a severe and lasting shock 
at the hands of Lphic'ra-tes. The achievement of this Athenian 
general was to make light troops so efficient as to cope successfully 
with heavy infantry. First he made their shields smaller and their 
pikes and swords heavier and longer.^ Then he put them through a 
careful training that they might act as individuals rather than in mass. 
After experimenting successfully with his light-armed troops to assure 
himself of their superiority to heavy-armed, he attacked in the 
neighborhood of Corinth a Mo'ra, or battalion, of Spartan heavy 
infantry, six hundred strong, and cut it to pieces. The Lacedaemo- 
nians never fully recovered from the blow ; the military organization 
which had always been the foundation of their supremacy in Greece 
proved defective. 

169. The Treaty of Antalcidas (387 B.C.). — They acknowledged 
their failure in the war by coming to terms with Persia. The king 
was ready to use his money and influence for the preservation of a 
peace which should assure him the possession of Asia Minor ; and 

1 § 87, n. 2. 



spartan Violence 205 

Lacedaemon could do nodiing but accept his terms. Accordingly 
her ambassador An-tal'ci-das, and Tir-i-ba'zus, the king's legate, 
invited all the Greek states to send deputies to Sardis for the purpose 
of concluding peace. When they arrived, Tiribazus showed them the 
king's seal on a document which he held in his hand, and read from 
it the following terms imposed by Persia upon the Greeks : " King 
Artaxerxes deems it just that the cities in Asia, with the islands of 
Cla-zom'e-nae and Cyprus, should belong to himself; the rest of the 
Hellenic cities, both small and great, he will leave independent, with 
the exception of Lem'nos, Im'bros, and Scy'ros, which three are to 
belong to Athens as of yore. Should any of the parties concerned 
not accept this peace, I, Artaxerxes, together with those who share 
my views, will war against the offenders by land and sea, with ships 
and money." ^ As the Greeks believed it impossible to wage war 
successfully with Lacedaemon and Persia at once, they accepted the 
terms. It was well understood that Lacedaemon was to enforce the 
treaty for the king ; and this position made her again the undisputed 
head of eastern Greece. 

170. The Violence of Sparta. — The Lacedaemonians still ruled 
according to the policy of Lysander, — a combination of brute force 
and cunning. It was their aim to weaken the states from which they 
might expect resistance. First they destroyed the city of Mantineia, 
and scattered the inhabitants in villages. Then in northern Greece 
they assailed the Chalcidic League, which though newly formed had 
already grown powerful. While at war with this league, they seized 
the Cadmeia — the citadel of Thebes — and occupied it with a gar- 
rison in open violation of law (383 B.C.) . Even the citizens of Sparta, 
not to speak of the Greeks in general, were indignant with the officer 
who had done the violent deed ; but Agesilaus excused him on 
the ground that the act was advantageous to Sparta, thus setting 
forth the principle that Greece was to be ruled for the benefit 
merely of the governing city. Though the Lacedaemonians pun- 
1 Xenophoii, IlcUcnica, v. i. 



2o6 TJie Supremacy of Sparta 

ished the officer, they approved the deed by leaving the garrison in 
the Cadmeia. 

"On every side the affairs of Lacedaemon had signally prospered : 
Thebes and the other Boeotian states lay absolutely at her feet ; 
Corinth had become her most faithful ally ; Argos . . . was humbled 
to the dust ; Athens was isolated ; and lastly, those of her own allies 
who had displayed a hostile feeling toward her had been punished ; 
so that, to all outward appearance, the foundations of her empire 
were well and firmly laid. 

" Abundant examples might be found alike in Hellenic and in 
foreign history, to prove that the divine powers mark what is done 
amiss, winking neither at impiety nor at the commission of unhallowed 
acts ; in the present instance, the Lacedaemonians, who had pledged 
themselves by oath to leave the states independent, had laid violent 
hands on the citadel of Thebes, and were eventually punished by the 
victims of that iniquity single-handed." ^ 

171. Tyranny arouses Resistance. — With these words Xenophon, 
the historian, prepares the reader for understanding the sudden 
reverse in the fortunes of the Lacedaemonians. Their city was now 
the acknowledged leader of all eastern Greece, supported by Persia 
in the East and by Dionysius in the West. But their policy was soon 
to awaken forces which were to overthrow their supremacy forever. 
Resistance was first aroused in Thebes, where the oppressor's hand 
was heaviest. In that city the polemarchs, as representatives of the 
oligarchic party in league with Sparta, ruled by terrorism, imprisoning 
some opponents and banishing others. The exiles took refuge in 
Athens, and there found sympathy. Among the refugees was Pe-lop^- 
i-das, a wealthy Theban, full of patriotism and brave to recklessness, 
— the very man his city needed to save her. Pelopidas had left 
behind him in Thebes an intimate friend, Ep-am-in-on^das, an orator 
of remarkable keenness and force, and a philosopher. 

The oligarchs thought Epaminondas a harmless dreamer ; but 
1 Xenophon, Hellenica, v. 3-4. 



Thebes 207 

while they allowed him to remain unmolested at home, he was 
attracting into his school the most capable youths of Thebes, and 
was arousing in them the moral power which was to set his country 
free. The young Thebans, who delighted in physical training, 
learned from the philosopher that mere size of muscle was of no 
advantage, that they should aim rather at agiUty and endurance. He 
encouraged them to wrestle with the Lacedaemonian soldiers in the 
Cadmeia, that when the crisis should come, they might meet them 
without fear. 

172. The Liberation of Thebes (379 B.C.). — Meantime Pelopidas 
at Athens was planning to return with the exiles to overthrow the 
oligarchy. He often told them at their meetings that it was both dis- 
honorable and impious to neglect their enslaved country, and that they 
should emulate the heroic courage of Thrasybulus; as he had ad- 
vanced from Thebes to break the power of the Athenian tyrants, so 
they should march from Athens to free Thebes. Four years passed 
in this manner, and it was now the winter of 379 B.C. The Chalcidic 
League had fallen, resistance to Sparta was becoming every day 
more hopeless, there was need of haste. 

Selecting a hundred of his most faithful friends, Pelopidas led 
them to Eleusis. There twelve of the younger men, including him- 
self, eagerly undertook the dangerous task of striking a secret blow 
for their country. They dressed themselves like huntsmen, and 
accompanied by dogs, crossed Mount Parnes toward Thebes in 
groups of two and three. A snow-storm had just set in when at dark 
these men, their faces muffled in their cloaks, entered the city by 
various gates and met another band of conspirators in the house of 
their leader. On the following night an official who was also in the 
plot held a banquet, to which he invited all the polemarchs except 
one, who was the head of the oligarchic party. 

While these magistrates were carousing, some of the conspirators 
entered disguised as women and killed them. At the same time 
Pelopidas with two companions went to the house of the remaining 



2o8 TJie Supremacy of Sparta 

polemarch, and after a hard struggle made away with him. The 
next morning Epaminondas introduced the leaders of the conspiracy 
to the assembled citizens, who elected them Boeotarchs, or chief 
magistrates of Boeotia. A democracy was now established, and the 
garrison in the Cadmeia surrendered with the privilege of departing 
unharmed. Thebes was again free. 

173. The Athenian Maritime Confederacy (377 B.C.). — The 
Athenians, though in sympathy with their neighbor, would gladly have 
remained neutral, had not Lacedaemon driven them to war by a 
treacherous attempt to seize Peiraeus. They renewed their alliance 
with the maritime cities which had deserted them for Sparta but 
were now seeking their protection. The new league was to be a 
union of the Greeks for the defence of their liberties against Sparta, 
Each allied state sent a deputy to a congress at Athens. It was 
agreed that the leading city alone should have no representative in 
this body in order that the deputies might not be influenced by the 
presidency or even by the presence of an Athenian. To be binding, 
a measure had to receive the approval of both Athens and congress. 
This arrangement made the leading city equal to all the others com- 
bined, but prevented her from acquiring absolute power such as she 
had exercised over the members of the earlier confederacy. There 
were still to be contributions of ships and money, but as Athens was 
no longer in a position to compel the allies to perform their duties, 
the league remained far weaker than it had been in the preceding 
century. 

174. The Peace Convention (371 B.C.). — As the new alliance 
included Thebes and about seventy other cities, it was more than a 
match for Peloponnese ; but the Thebans finally withdrew from the 
war and busied themselves with subduing the Boeotian towns. 
Athens, left to carry on the struggle alone and displeased with the 
policy of Thebes, opened negotiations with Lacedaemon. There- 
upon a convention of all the Greek states met in Sparta to establish 
an Hellenic peace. Though the treaty of Antalcidas was renewed. 



Lcjictra 209 

the Persian king could no longer arbitrate among the Greeks, — they 
now felt able to manage their own affairs. It is interesting to see 
them acting together in the interest of peace and endeavoring to 
form one Hellenic state on the basis of local independence and 
equal rights. The convention resolved to accept peace on the 
understanding that every Greek state should be independent and 
that all fleets and armies should be disbanded. 

Though all were ready to make peace on these terms, trouble 
arose in regard to ratifying the treaty. Sparta insisted on signing 
it in behalf of her allies, but would not grant the same privilege to 
Thebes. When, accordingly, Agesilaus demanded that the Boeotian 
towns should be permitted to sign for themselves, Epaminondas, the 
Theban deputy, declared that his city had as good a right to repre- 
sent all Boeotia as Sparta to represent all Laconia. His boldness 
startled the convention. For ages the Greeks had stood in awe of 
Sparta, and no one had dared question her authority within the 
borders of Lacedaemon. But the deputy from Thebes was winning 
his point with the members, when Agesilaus in great rage sprang to 
his feet and bade him say once for all whether Boeotia should be 
independent. " Yes, if you will give the same freedom to Laconia," 
Epaminondas replied. The Spartan king then struck the name of 
Thebes from the list of states represented in the convention, exclud- 
ing her thus from the peace. 

175. The Battle of Leuctra (371 B.C.). — The treaty was signed, 
the convention dissolved, the deputies returned home. All eyes 
turned toward the impending conflict ; every one expected to see 
the city of Epaminondas punished, perhaps destroyed, for the bold- 
ness of her leader. 

Leuctra was a small town in Boeotia southwest of Thebes. The 
battle fought there in 371 B.C. was in its political effects the 
most important in which Greeks only were engaged ; to the 
student of military afTairs it is one of the most interesting in 
history. 



2IO 



The Supremacy of Sparta 



THETHEBAN TACTICS 

IN THE 

BATTLE OF LEUCTKA 



IF 



:fiqp[ 



Hi 



Dl 



As a result of studies in military science Epaminondas introduced 
a sweeping revolution in warfare. The Boeotians had always made 
excellent soldiers, and as far back as the battle of Delium^ their 

commander had won by massing his 
men in a heavy phalanx.^ This 
solid body of infantry was to be the 
chief element in the new military 
system ; Epaminondas was to con- 
vert the experiences of his country- 
men into the most important 
principle of mihtary science — the 
principle of concentrating the attack 
upon a single point of the enemy's 
hue. Opposite to the Peloponnesian 
right, made up of Lacedaemonians 
under one of their kings, he massed 
his left in a column fifty deep and 
led it to the attack. The enemy, 
drawn up uniformly twelve deep in 
the old-fashioned way, could not 
withstand the terrific shock. The 
Boeotian centre purposely advanced 
more slowly than the column, and 
i!.r„„,. c... *r. 7. ^j^g right still more slowly, so that 
these divisions of the line took only the slightest part in the battle. 
But the Boeotian horsemen, who were well trained and high-spirited, 
easily put to rout the inefficient cavalry of the enemy; and the Sacred 
Band, Epaminondas' school of Theban youths, followed the impetu- 
ous Pelopidas in an irresistible charge on the extreme Spartan right. 
The king was killed, his army thoroughly beaten by a much smaller 
force, and the supremacy of Sparta was at an end. 

1 § 141. 2 p. 99^ n. I. 



m\ 



H" 



yim 



DDDdTHEBAN CAVALRY 
a aa^ BOEOTIANS 
h^ THEBAN COLUMN 

C, SACRED BAND 

I, I, THEBANS AND ALLIES BEFORE ADVANCE 

II, II, THEBAN' ADVANCE IN ECHELON FORMATION 

III, III, ^^H SPARTANS. ^^^ PEL0P0NNESIAN3 

SHOWING THEBAN COLUMN AND SACRED BAND 
CUTTING THE SPARTAN LINE 



The Overthrow of Sparta 



211 



Topics for Reading 

I. Critias. — See Indices in Xenophon, IVorh (translated by Dakyns), and 
in the various histories of Greece. 

II. The Expedition of Cyrus. — Xenophon, Anabasis; Holm, History of 
Greece, iii. pp. 2-6; Timayenis, History of Greece, Pt. VI. ch. ii. 

III. Society and Government of Sparta in the Time of Agesilaus. — 
Xenophon, Republic of the Lacedaemonians, in Works ; Botsford, Greece, pp. 256- 
261; Curtius, History of Greece, Bk. V. ch. iii. 




Spartan Mosaic 



CHAPTER XV 

THEBES ATTEMPTS TO GAIN THE SUPREMACY (371-362 r..c.) 

176. Effects of the Battle on Sparta. — "After these events, a 
messenger was despatched to Lacedaemon with news of the misfor- 
tune. He reached his destination on the last day of the gym-no- 
pae'di-ae,' just when the chorus of grown men had entered the theatre. 
The ephors heard the mournful tidings not without grief and pain, 
as needs they must, I take it ; but for all that they did not dismiss 
the chorus, but allowed the contest to run out its natural course. 
What they did was to deliver the names of those who had fallen to 
their friends and families, with a word of warning to the women not 
to make any loud lamentation, but to bear their sorrow in silence ; 
and the next day it was a striking spectacle to see those who had 
relations among the slain moving to and fro in public with bright and 
radiant looks, whilst of those whose friends were reported to be liv- 
ing, barely a man was to be seen, and these flitted by with lowered 
heads and scowling brows, as if in humiliation." - 

Spartan laws degraded runaways, and deprived them of citizenship 
and of all other honors ; they had to go unwashed antl meanly clad, 
with beards half shaven. Any one who met them in the street was 
at liberty to beat them and they dared not resist. On the present 
occasion Sparta had sent out seven hundred citizens, of whom three 
hundred had disgracetl themselves by surviving defeat. What should 
be done with them? Being so numerous, they might resist punish- 

1 A great festival at Siiarta in honor of Apollo, Artemis, and their mother 
Leto. It was chietly an exhibition of gymnastics, music, and dancing given by 
boys, youths, and men. 

2 Xenophoa, IhUenica, vi. 4. 

212' 



Peloponnese 



213 



ment ; and besides, as Sparta had only about fifteen hundred citizens 
remaining, to disfranchise three hundred would be ruinous. Agesi- 
laus, who was requested by the government to settle this, serious 
question, decided to let the law sleep in the present case, to be re- 
vived, however, for the future. In this way he piloted his country 
safely through the crisis. 




Mount Ithome and City Wall of Messene 

177. Eifects of the Battle on Peloponnese. — In Peloponnese the 
wildest confusion and anarchy arose. To the friends of Sparta it 
seemed that the world was falling into chaos, now that she had lost 
control, while her enemies rejoiced in the freedom assured them by 
her downfall. The first to profit by the revolution were the Arca- 
dians, most of whom were still shepherds and peasants living in 
villages, and following the Lacedaemonians in war. They now re- 
solved to unite in a permanent league for the defence of their Uber- 
ties. While the Mantineians were rebuilding their city, which Sparta 



214 Thebes Attempts to gain the Siipretnacy 

had destroyed,^ the league founded a new city, Meg-a-lop'o-Hs, to be 
the seat of government, and a stronghold against Sparta. When the 
Arcadians were attacked by the Lacedaemonians, Epaminondas came 
to their help at the head of an army of Thebans and their aUies — in 
all, seventy thousand men. With this great host he invaded Laco7iia, 
and ravaged it from end to end ; for the first time in history. Spartan 
women saw the smoke from the camp-fires of an enemy. The city 
was in a tumult, — the old men were enraged at the present condi- 
tion of things, and the women in their terror caused more confusion 
than the invaders. Agesilaus, weighed down with age, saw the great 
power which he had inherited falling to pieces about him, conspira- 
cies forming on every hand among high and low, the perioeci troop- 
ing off to join the enemy, the helots in rebellion, and himself reproached 
as the " kindler of the war." Still he appUed himself with energy 
and courage to the sore task of defending his unwalled city. Unable 
to capture Sparta, Epaminondas went to Messenia to aid the revolt 
of that country. With his help the Messenians built and fortified a 
new city, Messene, near the citadel of Mount Ithome, on a spot 
made sacred by many an heroic struggle for liberty. 

178. The Failure of Thebes. — Within the next few years the 
Thebans extended their influence over Thessaly and Macedon. As 
the majority of the continental states were their allies, they were 
now the controlling power through the entire length of the penin- 
sula. But the Thebans were no better qualified for ruling than the 
Spartans had been. Their chief fault was their narrowness. Instead 
of making all the Boeotians Thebans with full privileges in the leading 
city, they attempted to subject them to the condition of perioeci ; 
and some towns they even destroyed. Their more remote allies 
they had no thought of binding to themselves by institutions such 
as hold the states of our nation together. Epaminondas erred 
greatly, too, in assuming that the peasants of Messenia and Arcadia, 
who were absolutely without political experience, would at once 

1 § 170. 



The Failure of Thebes 215 

succeed in self-government under constitutions made for them by 
strangers. It was not thus that the Romans, the English, and the 
Americans became self-governing. The Thebans merely substituted 
chaos for order. Peloponnese, united under Lacedaemon, had been 
the citadel of Hellas, the centre of resistance to foreign aggression ; 
and though Sparta was despotic, the Greek states had been learning 
of late to guard their liberties against her, while they still looked to 
her for protection and guidance in time of danger. All this was 
now changed. When Sparta had fallen, Thebes, taking her place, 
broke up Peloponnese into warring camps, weakened the only 
power which was capable of defending Hellas, and spread confusion 
everywhere. 

When it became apparent to the Thebans themselves that they 
were too weak to maintain order in Hellas, they sent Pelopidas as 
ambassador to Susa to bring the influence and money of the king to 
bear once more in favor of peace. Artaxerxes was ready to dictate 
another treaty ; but the Greeks had learned to despise him, and 
would no longer endure his interference. As this disgraceful busi- 
ness failed, Epaminondas turned resolutely to the almost hopeless 
task of reducing Greece to order by force of iron. The chief 
resistance to his plan came now from Athens. The maritime city 
he had to meet on her own element, as she refused to dismantle her 
fleet at the command of Persia. Though as well supplied as Attica 
with coasts, Boeotia had little commerce and no fleet worthy of 
mention before the time of Epaminondas. But suddenly his state 
became a naval power, the great tactician stepped into the place of 
admiral, and an armament went forth to sweep Athens from the sea. 
Could he have been free a year or two to carry on his naval opera- 
tions, he might by overthrowing the rule of Athens have introduced 
as much confusion into the Aegean Sea as he had brought to 
Peloponnese by the ruin of Lacedaemon. 

179. The Battle of Mantineia (362 B.C.). — But Epaminondas 
had no time for this. He had already made three invasions of 



2l6 



TJicbcs Attempts to gain the Supremacy 



Peloponnese, and again he found it necessary to march across the 
Isthmus to restore order. Many alhes joined him; Athens and 
Sparta were his chief enemies. The Theban commander attempted 
by forced marches to capture Sparta, then Mantineia, in the hope 
that he might thus estabhsh peace without a battle ; but in both 
attempts he failed. 

Then came the conflict at Mantineia. Notwithstanding tneir 
tedious journeys, the condition of his troops was excellent ; they 




The Plain of Mantineia 



were full of enthusiasm and had absolute confidence in their com- 
mander. " There was no labor which they would shrink from, either 
by night or by day; there was no danger they would flinch from; 
and with the scantiest provisions, their discipHne never failed them. 
And so, when he gave them his last orders to prepare for impending 
battle, they obeyed with alacrity. He spoke the word ; the cavalry 
fell to whitening their helmets, the heavy infantry of the Arcadians 
began inscribing the club (of Heracles) as a crest on their shields, 



Mantineia 217 

in imitation of the Thebans, and all were engaged in sharpening 
their lances and swords and in polishing their heavy shields." ^ 

Taking the enemy by surprise, Epaminondas repeated the tactics 
of Leuctra with perfect success. His flying column, now in the 
form of a wedge, cut through the opposing ranks and shattered the 
enemy's host. 

The great commander fell mortally wounded with a javelin. 
Carried to the rear, he heard the victorious shouts of the Thebans, 
but when told that his fellow-generals were both dead, he advised 
his countrymen to make peace. The surgeon then drew out the 
javelin point and Epaminondas died. Pelopidas had recently been 
slain in battle in Thessaly. The heroes were buried where they 
fell ; and their gravestones in northern and southern Greece stood 
as monuments of Theban leadership, which ended with their lives. 

Pelopidas was bold and chivalrous, a zealous patriot and an able 
commander. Epaminondas was a great military genius. Personally 
he was without ambition, content to live as a private citizen, or to 
serve his state in the lowest offices. Absolutely pure in character, he 
aimed only to promote the welfare of his city and of Hellas. Though 
in statesmanship he was as able as any of his time, though his ideals 
were high and his methods honorable, he failed to discover the evils 
of the Hellenic state system, much more to remedy them. Fortune 
was kind to him and to his worthy helper in cutting them off at the 
height of their renown, — before they could see the failure of their 
policy and be made responsible for it. 

180. The Result of the Battle.— The result of the battle of Man- 
tineia was tlie opposite of that which the world expected. " Here 
where well-nigh the whole of Hellas was met together in one field, 
and the combatants stood rank against rank confronted, there was no 
one who doubted that, in the event of battle, the conquerors this day 
would rule, and those who lost would be their subjects. But God so 
ordered it that both belligerents alike set up trophies claiming victory, 
^ Xenophon, Hellenica, vii. 5. 



2l8 



Thebes Attempts to gain the Supremacy 



and neither interfered with the other in the act. Both parties ahke 
gave back their enemy's dead under a truce, and in right of victory ; 
both aUke, in symbol of defeat, under a truce took back their dead. 
And though both claimed to have won the day, neither could show 
that he had gained thereby any accession of territory, or state, or 
empire, or was better situated tlian before the battle. Uncertainty 
and confusion indeed had gained ground, being tenfold greater 
throughout the length and breadth of Hellas after the battle than 
before."^ The conflict decided that no single city was strong enough 
to rule Greece. The task of uniting Greece under one government 
was left to Macedon, — which was not a city-state like Sparta, 
Athens, or Thebes, but a territorial state like those of modern times 
(§ 65). 

Topics for Reading 

Epaminondas. — Plutarch, Pelopidas ; Xenophon, Works (translated by 
Dakyns; see Index); Sankey, Spartan and Tlteban Supremacies, chs. xi, xii; 
l?uiy, History of Greece, pp. 566, 592-626; Holm, History of Greece, iii. chs. 
viii-x; Curtius, History of Greece, Bk. VI. 

^ Xenophon, Hetlciiica, vii. 5. 




Battle between the Grekks and the Amazons 
(Fiicze of the Mausoleum, Halicarnassus) 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE RISE OF MACEDON (to 338 n.c.) 

181. Country and People. — Macedon is the basin of a single 
river-system. Its waters in their upper course run through plains 
separated by high mountains, and then flow together in three parallel 
streams to the sea. It is somewhat like a hand with radiating fingers 
reaching from the coast into the continent. The country was made 




A Scene in Macedonia 

up accordingly of two distinct regions : the Highland, including 
the mountains and plains of the interior ; and the Lowland, nearer 
the sea. 

Dense forests nearly covered the Highland, even as late as the 
fourth century B.C. The sparse population lived in hovels, dressed in 
skins, and fed their (e\v sheep on the mountain sides. Their habits 

219 



220 TJie Rise of Macedon 

were warlike : the youth could not sit at table with the men till he 
had killed a wild boar, and he who had slain no foe had to wear a 
rope about his body as a sign that he was not yet free. They ate 
from wooden dishes; they fought with the rudest weapons; poverty 
and exposure were toughening them into excellent material for 
soldiers. 

In each separate valley dwelt a tribe under the rule of a king and 
nobles, as it had been in the Greece of Homer's day. The Macedo- 
nians were indeed Greeks who had not yet emerged from barbarism. 
The Lowlanders, however, were rapidly learning the ideas and the 
useful arts of the Hellenic colonies along their coasts. By adopting 
the military system and the armor of the civihzed Greeks, A-myn'tas, 
king of the Lowlands, compelled the Highlanders to acknowledge 
him as their lord. In this way the tribes of Macedon were brought 
together under one head. 

182. Philip. — After the death of this king (369 B.C.), the Thebans 
interfered in Macedon and carried away his youngest son Philip, a 
youth of fifteen, as a hostage. Thebes was then at the height of her 
glory : her generals and her army were the best in the world ; her 
schools, streets, market-place, and assembly thronged with busy life ; 
her arsenals sounded continually with preparations for war. The 
royal youth came a half-barbarian, with a voracious appetite for 
learning everything which would be useful to his country ; he re- 
turned a civilized Greek, with an ambition to be the maker of a 
nation. 

Soon afterward the king, an elder brother, fell while fighting 
against the rebellious Highlanders ; and Philip mounted the throne, 
beset on all sides with difficulties and dangers. 

Within the next two years he had proved his right to rule by over- 
coming his domestic foes, defeating his hostile neighbors, and seating 
himself firmly in power. It became evident at once that he intended 
to enlarge his kingdom by subduing the surrounding states. First he 
wished to annex the coast cities that he might have free access to the 



Philip and Athens 22 1 

sea. Some of these cities were allies of Athens, and ochers belonged 
to the Chalcidic Federation, restored after its overthrow by Lacedae- 
mon. Grossly deceiving both Athenians and Chalcidians as to his 
purpose, he robbed Athens of her allies on the coast and seized Am- 
phipolis, the greatest commercial city in the neighborhood. It must 
be said in his favor that he treated his new subjects with the utmost 
fairness, granting their cities more rights than the native Macedonians 
enjoyed. 

183. War between Philip and Athens (357-346 B.C.). — In anger 
Athens broke the peace with him, but could do nothing more because 
she was engaged at the same time in a social war, — that is, a war 
with some of her allies who had revolted. She showed great weak- 
ness through this period in all her deahngs with other states, as so 
many of her citizens were opposed to an active foreign policy. She 
failed in the social war, and ended it by granting independence to 
the seceding states, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium. Other 
allies deserted, till only Euboea and a few small islands were left, 
whose war contributions amounted to no more than forty-five talents 
a year. Philip, on the other hand, acquired enormous revenues by 
seizing Mount Pangaeus and working its gold mines. This source 
yielded him a thousand talents a year. With the money he was 
enabled to keep up a standing army, build a fleet from the timber of 
the forests about Pangaeus, and bribe supporters in nearly every city 
of Greece. His immediate aim, however, was to make himself 
master of Thessaly ; and the opportunity soon offered itself. 

184. The Sacred War (356-346 B.C.). — About the time when 
Athens broke peace with him, trouble arose between Phocis and 
Thebes. The Phocians, like the Macedonians, were a fresh, vigorous 
race, whose martial strength and ardor had not yet been softened by 
commerce and city life. As they refused to submit to Thebes, this 
city persuaded the Amphictyonic Council to declare a sacred war^ 
upon them on a false charge of having wronged Apollo. To pay the 

i§66. 



222 The Rise of Mace don 

expenses of the war, the Phocian commanders borrowed large sums 
of money from the Delphic treasury, — a perfectly honoral)le transac- 
tion, as Delphi was a Thocian city and the war was in self-defence j 
yet the enemies of the little state cried out hypocritically against this 
still more impious crime against the god. By means of this money 
the Phocian general brought together a great army of mercenaries, 
with which he overran Locris, Doris, and Boeotia, seized the pass 
of Thermopylae, defeated Philip twice in Thessaly, and drove him 
back to Maccdoii. For a time it seemed probable that the Phocians 
would become the leading state in Hellas; but as their power de- 
pended chiefly on mercenaries, the exhaustion of the Delphic treasury 
would soon bring it to an end. The unfortunate campaign of Philip 
merely spurred him to greater exertions. In the following year he 
reappeared with an army in Thessaly, defeated the Phocians, and 
drove them behind Thermopylae. Their commander was killed 
by his own men in the flight, and Philip in an outburst of bar- 
barism ordered the body to be nailed to a cross. Only the timely 
arrival of an Athenian force prevented the victorious king from pass- 
ing through 'i'hciinopylae into central (ireece. However, all Thessaly 
was now his, and imuiediatcly afterward he concpiered Thrace nearly 
to the Hellespont. 

186. Philip and Chalcidice (352-349 B.C.); Demosthenes. — Up to 
this time the Chalcidians had l>een in alliance with Philip, whom 
they looked upon as a petty tribal chief. But alarmed at the won- 
derful growth of his power, they made peace with Athens in viola- 
tion of their agreement with him. The crafty king let three years 
slip (piietly by, during which he won over to himself by threats and 
bribes a considerable party in every Chalcidic town ; then, when 
fully prepared for war, he ordered O-lyn'thus ^ to give up his step- 
brother, who had taken refuge from him in that city. As Greeks 
considered it a religious duty to harbor exiles, Olynthus refused, and 
sent at the same time an appeal to Athens for help. Among the 
1 The chief city of Chalcidice. 



DciiiostJioics 



223 



speakers in the Athenian assembly when lliis subject came uj) for 
consideration was the man who was to be known through future 
ages as the antagonist of I'hiHp, — Demosthenes, the most eminent 
orator the world has known. 

Demosthenes was only seven years old when his father, a wealthy 
manufacturer, died, whereupon the guardians took most of the 
estate for themselves. He 
was a slender, sallow boy, 
who, instead of joining with 
comrades in the sports of 
the gymnasium, stayed at 
home with his mother, nurs- 
ing his wrath against the 
unfaithful guardians till it 
became the ruling passion 
of his youth. To prepare 
himself for prosecuting them 
he studied legal oratory 
under an experienced 
master. It is said, too, that 
even in youth he resolved 
to become a statesman ; 
but his voice was defective, 
his body weak and awk- 
ward, his habits unsocial, 
— - his whole nature unfitted 
for such a calling. Strength of soul, however, made up for personal 
disadvantages. He trained his voice and delivery under a success- 
ful actor; he studied the great masterpieces of Attic prose; he 
steeled his will and so exercised his mental muscles that they 
became capable of the highest and most prolonged tension. 
Severe toil, continued through many years, gave him his genius. 
Success in prosecuting the guardians led to speech-writing as a 




DEMOSTIfKNKS 

(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



224 The Rise of Maccdon 

profession, from which he gradually made his way into public 
Hfe. 

He was the first to foresee the danger to Hellenic freedom from 
Philip, and lost no time or zeal in warning Athens to meet it while 
it was yet far off. In 352 h.c. he began his opposition to the king 
of Macedon in an oration called his First rhilippic ; and when 
envoys from Olynthus begged Athens for an alliance, he urged his 
countrymen to accept the opportunity. "Give prompt and vigorous 
assistance, use your surplus revenues for war rather than for festi- 
vals ; be not content with sending mercenaries, but take the field 
yourselves against Philip, and you will certainly defeat him, for his 
strength is derived from your weak policy, his power is based on 
injustice, and all his subjects will revolt, if only you give them a 
little encouragement and support." Such were the sentiments of his 
Olynthiac Orations. He tried to inspire his countrymen with the 
vigor and ambition of their fathers, who had beaten down Persia and 
had founded an empire ; yet his words had little effect, as he was 
still a young man and almost unknown. 

The Athenians made the alliance, but sent insufficient help; so 
that before the end of another year Philip had taken Olynthus and 
the thirty other cities of the league. He destroyed them all and 
enslaved the entire population. 

186. Character of Philip ; his Army and State. — Hellas was pun- 
ished for the disunion of her states, but this does not justify Philip. 
The cruelty and violence of all the Greek tyrants combined scarcely 
equalled this one deed of the Macedonian king. 

There could now be no doubt that he was dangerous. He ruled 
Macedon, Thessaly, Chalcidice, and the greater part of Thrace; he 
had his hirelings among the leading men of the Hellenic cities. He 
was a self-made man, an incessant toiler, who spared not his own 
person, but " in his struggle for power and empire had an eye cut 
out, his collar-bone fractured, a hand and a leg mutilated, and was 
willing to sacrifice any part of his body which fortune might 



Philip's Army and State 225 

choose to take, provided he could live with the remainder in 
honor and glory." ^ The body served a masterful intellect ; few 
men have equalled him in quickness of thought and in soundness 
of judgment. 

The greatest of his achievements was the creation of the Mace- 
donian army. The rough Highland huntsmen and the peasants of 
the Plain, organized in local regiments, composed his phalanx. 
Learning a lesson from Iphicrates, he lightened their defensive 
armor and increased the length of their spears. Thus they could 
move more rapidly than the old-fashioned phalanx, and in conflict 
with any enemy their lances were first to draw blood. The nobles 
served in the cavalry as " companions " of the king ; the light-armed 
troops composed his guard; the sons of nobles were royal pages, 
associating with the king and protecting his person. Gradually 
military pride, the glory of success, and most of all the magnetism 
of a great commander welded this mass of men into an organic 
whole. Meanwhile Philip, and after him Alexander, were wiping 
out distinctions of locality and of social rank, making every man's 
place depend upon his own merit and the favor of the general. 
Thus the military organization not only civilized the Macedonians 
by subjecting them to discipline, but it also destroyed their clannish- 
ness and made of them one nation with common interests, senti- 
ments, and hopes. And Philip's country was not so exclusive as the 
Hellenic cities had always been ; it readily admitted strangers to 
citizenship and in this way showed capacity for indefinite growth 
in population and in area. Macedon was already far larger than 
any other Greek state ; its army was better organized ; its troops 
were superior ; and its king possessed a genius for war and for 
diplomacy. 

187. The Peace of Philocrates and the Overthrow of Phocis 
(346 B.C.)- — Three years after the flill of Chalcidice Athens made 
peace with Philip. The treaty included the allies of both parties 

^ Demosthenes, De Corona, 67. 
Q 



226 The Rise of Mace don 

with the exception of the Phocians, whom Philip reserved for destruc- 
tion. His excuse was that they had seized the treasures of Apollo 
at Delphi ; he really wished to gain a foothold in central Greece and 
at the same time to pose as a champion of the prophet.god. 

A few days after signing the treaty he passed through Thermopy- 
lae, and as agent of the Amphictyonic Council he destroyed the 
twenty-two cities of Phocis and scattered the inhabitants in villages. 




Baitle-fielu of Chaeroneia 

The council decreed that the Phocians should repay by annual 
instalments the ten thousand talents they had taken from Apollo's 
treasury. Their seat in the council was given to Philip. This posi- 
tion, together with the presidency of the Pythian games, assured 
him great honor and influence throughout Hellas. He was now not 
only a Greek, but the greatest of the nation. 

188. The Battle of Chaeroneia (338 B.C.). — In the years of peace 
which followed, PhiUp was busily winning friends among the Greeks ; 
it was his aim to bring Hellas under his will by creating in each city 



Chaeroncia 227 

a party devoted to himself. In all his movements, however, he was 
met by the eloquence and the diplomacy of Demosthenes. Gradu- 
ally the orator brought together an Hellenic League to drive Philip 
out of Greece. The majority of states in Peloponnese and several 
in central Greece joined it. 

As the time seemed ripe for a final attack upon Greek liberties, 
Philip caused his agents to kindle another sacred war in central 
Greece. He then marched again through Thermopylae and occu- 
pied El-a-tei'a, near the Boeotian frontier. As this movement 
threatened Boeotia, Thebes was induced to enter the Hellenic 
League. The allied forces met him at Chae-ro-nei'a in Boeotia. 
On each side were about thirty thousand men. Philip, who occu- 
pied the right wing, purposely retired before the Athenians, while 
on his left the Macedonian phalanx overcame that of Thebes. 
Meanwhile on the outer flank of the phalanx Alexander, the king's 
son, led the cavalry in an attack upon the Sacred Band. These 
young Thebans proved themselves heroes worthy of Epaminondas, 
for they fought to the death. The other troops — Athenians, The- 
bans, and allies — fled or were taken captive. 

In this battle a monarch, commanding all the resources of his 
state, proved superior to a loose alliance of repubHcs. The outcome 
impressed upon men the idea that monarchy was the strongest and 
best form of government. Hence it helped to determine that to 
the present day the civilized world should be ruled chiefly by kings 
and emperors. 

The Progress of Culture^ 

189. Literature and Art. — In the period which we have now 
brought to a close (404-338 B.C.), poetry and historical writing 
declined. In history the age is represented by Xenophon, with 

1 Those teachers who wish to follow the political narrative without interruption 
may omit § 1S9. 



228 TJie Rise of Macedon 

whom we have already become acquainted as the inspiring genius of 
the "Ten Thousand" on their homeward way to Greece after the 
battle of Cunaxa. His Anabasis is the story of this expedition. His 
Memoirs of Socrates gives us the character and teachings of that 
philosopher from the standpoint of a plain, practical man. The 
Hel-len'i-ca, a continuation of the history of Thucydides, covers the 
period from 410 b.c. to the battle of Mantineia, Though a shallow 
narrative, written from the Spartan point of view, it is our only con- 
tinuous story of the period treated, and hence is very valuable. He 
wrote on a variety of other subjects, as hunting, housekeeping, the 
Athenian revenues, and the Lacedaemonian constitution. His works 
are a storehouse of knowledge of the times in which he lived. 

The other great departments of prose — oratory and philosophy — 
reached the height of their development. Oratory flourished in all 
democratic states, which required the citizens to express their opin- 
ions on public affairs. There was at Athens no real lawyer class, be- 
cause the laws were so simple that every one could understand them ; 
but the oration which the private citizen committed to memory and 
delivered in the law court was usually composed for him by a profes- 
sional speech-writer. The most eminent of this class in the early 
part of the fourth century B.C. was Lysias, an alien. Robbed of his 
fortune by the Thirty, he turned to speech-writing as a profession. 
Many of his orations have come down to us ; they serve at once as 
models of the purest and simplest prose, and as a means of direct 
contact with the public and private life of the author's time. 

Passing by a number of other eminent orators, we come to Demos- 
thenes, of whom something has already been said. With the possible 
exception of Plato, he is the greatest master of Greek prose. In his 
orations, " we can no longer feel all the delicate touches of that ex- 
quisite skill which make them, to the ancients, such marvellous 
works of art. . . . But we can feel at least the orator's splendid 
mastery of every tone which the Greek language could yield, the in- 
tellectual greatness of the statesman, the moral greatness of the 



Government 273 

the sanction of the senate, — the pa'trurn auc-torH-tas. As all, 
without distinction of rank, had a voice in the comitia, a great 
majority of that body were necessarily plebeians. It was chiefly 
through the senate, therefore, that the nobles exercised their politi- 
cal influence. This body, at first very small, gradually grew with 
the development of the nobility, till at the close of the regal period 
it is said to have contained a hundred and thirty-six members. The 
king was accustomed to ask the advice of the senate on all im- 
portant matters ; and though he was not legally bound by this 
advice, he generally followed it through respect for the nobles and 
through desire for their support and cooperation. 

On the death of a king the senate took entire charge of the 
government ; the senators ruled by turns, each for a period of five 
days, in the order determined by lot. The ruler for the time being 
was termed in' te>--rex, and the period between the death of a king 
and the election of his successor was an in-ter-reg'mitn. The inter- 
rex nominated a king, the assembly elected him, and the senate gave 
its sanction. Then the assembly conferred upon him the hn-pe'ri-um, 
which made him absolute commander in war and supreme judge 
with power of life and death over his subjects. In addition to these 
duties, he was head of the state religion. Although originally but a 
citizen, he now occupied a place of great dignity and power. Ac- 
cordingly he dressed in an embroidered purple robe and high red 
shoes, and with an eagle-headed sceptre in his hand sat on an 
ivory throne, or on his judgment seat, the curule chair. In his 
walks he was accompanied by twelve attendants, called lictors, each 
bearing an axe bound in a bundle of rods. The axes signified his 
absolute power extending to Ufe and death. 

225. Religion. — As the Romans of a later age assigned the be- 
ginnings of their state and constitution to Romulus, they imagined 
Numa the author of most of their religious institutions. Near the 
comitium he built a temple to Ja'nus, the double-faced god, who 
blesses the beginnings and ends of actions. The gates of his temple 

T 



2/4 ^/^^ Beginnings of Rome — The Prehistoric Age 



were open in war and closed in peace. During the reign of Numa 
they were shut, but rarely thereafter in the long history of Rome. 
Besides Janus there are father Jove, or Jupiter, the chief guardian 
of Rome ; Sat'urn, who blesses seed-sowing ; Mi-nerVa, " who 

warns the husbandmen in time 
of the works to be under- 
taken " ; Mars, god of war ; 
Juno, wife of Jupiter; Vulcan, 
*' who strikes the sparks from 
the forges of the Cy'clops with 
reiterated beat " ; ^ Venus, a 
garden goddess, afterward 
identified with the Greek god- 
dess of love ; and a host of 
other deities. Every object 
and every act in nature and 
in human life had a guardian 
spirit, the most important of 
which the Romans worshipped 
as gods. Services of the chief 
deities were held by priests — 
fia'mi-nes, plural oi flatjien — 
whose lives were made uncom- 
fortable by strict rules govern- 
ing every detail of their 
conduct. 

Certain religious duties were 
the care of groups, or colleges, of sacred persons. Such were the six 
Vestal virgins, who attended to the worship of Vesta, and kept the 
sacred fire of the state in her temple. Twelve priests of Mars, called 
leapers, in purple frocks girt with a broad, bronze-studded belt, 
carried through the streets the sacred shields, upon which they 

1 Horace, Odes, i. 4. 




Public Works 275 

clashed their short swords, while they leaped and sang to their god. 
Augurs took the auspices for the king, by reading the will of Jupiter 
in the lightning and in the flight of birds ; and the pontiffs, who had 
charge of all divine knowledge, instructed the citizens in worship. 

236. The Growth of Rome ; the Reforms of Servius. — The 
earliest settlement at Rome, as we have noticed, was on the Pala- 




Cloaca Maxima 

tine.' Gradually the population outgrew this narrow space, and 
built their dwellings on the neighboring hills. Then one of the kings 
took possession of the Capitoline Mount and established his citadel 
there. At first the people could not live in the valleys which sepa- 
rated the hills, because they were marshy and often overflowed. 
The Tarquins drained these low grounds by means of arched sewers, 
some of which were so large that a loaded hay-cart could pass 
through them. The most famous of these works was the Clo-a'ca 
Max'i-ma ("the greatest sewer "), which drained the "Forum- and 

1 § 212. 

2 Find the Forum and the Capitoline Mount on the map of Rome, p. 278. 



2/6 TJie Beginnijigs of Rome — The Prehistoric Age 

made the ground about it habitable. The pubUc Hfe of the com- 
munity henceforth centred in this valley. The smiths and the shop- 
keepers set up their stalls round the Forum. About it the king 
built temples ; and adjoining it on the northeast they made an 
assembly-place — the comitium — in which they built a senate-house. 
Above the Forum, on the Capitoline, they erected a temple to 
Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, — usually known as the temple of the 
Capitoline Jupiter. Though in the heavy Etruscan style, it was for 
centuries the most magnificent building in Rome. They provided, 
too, for the amusement of the people. The valley between the 
Palatine and the Av'en-tine was a convenient place for races and 
other games. On the sloping hillsides which bounded it one of the 
Tarquins erected wooden seats for the spectators, naming this build- 
ing and enclosure the Circus Maximus. Finally they surrounded 
the Seven Hills of the city with a huge wall, parts of which remain to 
this day. Myth makes Servius Tullius not only the builder of the wall 
but the creator of new local tribes and the reorganizer of the army. 

227. The Servian Army and the Servian Tribes.^ — Hitherto the tribes 
and curiae had furnished their regiments and companies for war.^ Each group 
was a mere crowd of men poorly armed and without discipline or tactics. It was 
the same crude military system which we find among the early Greeks and Ger- 
mans. The Spartans, however, perhaps as early as the eighth century B.C., 
invented the phalanx,^ which soon found its way to the colonies in Italy and in 
Sicily. Thence Servius adopted it for his own state. 

As each soldier had to arm and equip himself at his own expense, Servius 
found it necessary to take a census of the citizens in order to know who should 
buy heavier, and who lighter, armor. First he divided the city into four districts, 
called tribes, and the country into sixteen tribes. Each tribe included also the 
citizens who owned land within the district. Taking the census tribe by tribe, 
Servius divided the citizens into five classes according to the size of their free- 
holds. He required the members of the first or wealthiest class to equip them- 
selves with the heaviest and most efficient arms, those of the second class to buy 
somewhat less complete equipments, and so on to the lowest. The three wealthier 
classes were heavy-armed and stood in lines, one behind another, while the 
fourth and fifth classes, as light-armed troops, served wherever occasion de- 

1 Cf. § 78, n. 2. 2 § 222. 8 §§ 38, 88. 



Literature 



229 



patriot who warned his people of the impending blow and comforted 
them when it had fallen." ^ 

The greatest philosopher of the age — and one of the most emi- 
nent of the world — was Plato. After the death of his master he 
travelled to various parts of Greece and even to Egypt. His connec- 
tion with the tyrants of Syracuse has already been mentioned.^ On 
his return to Athens he began teaching in the Academy/ which gave 




Theatre at Epidaurus 

its name to his school. Plato is chiefly noted for his theory of ideas. 
According to his view, ideas are the sole realities ; they are eternal 
and unchangeable, and exist only in heaven ; the things which we 
see in this world are mere shadows of those heavenly forms. 

One is inclined to call Plato a theologian primarily, as he has so 

^ Jebb, Greek Literature, p. 122 f. 2 § 160. 

^ The Academy, a public garden in the neighborhood of Athens, was founded 
by Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, and afterward adorned by Cimon. It was a 
pleasant place for recreation. 



230 The Rise of Macedon 

much to say of God, heaven, and the future life. With his brilliant 
imagination, too, he was as much a poet as a philosopher. 

While engaged in teaching Plato composed his Dialogues, which 
explain his views. The greatest Dialogue is the Republic, a discus- 
sion of the ideal state. Plato thought there should be three classes 
in the state : the philosophers, who should rule ; the warriors, who 
should guard the state, as the Spartans in Lacedaemon ; and the com- 
mon people, who by their labor should support the higher classes. 
This would have been a caste system like that of India. Plato 
beheved, too, that there should be no family or private property, 
because these institutions fostered selfishness. Though his ideal 
state was neither practicable nor on the whole good, one can hardly 
read the Republic without being lifted by it to a higher moral plane. 
The author insisted that justice should rule. The Hellenes, he 
taught, should live together as members of one family ; they should 
not injure one another by devastating fields, burning houses, and en- 
slaving captives. All his teachings were pure and ennobling : " My 
counsel is that we hold fast ever to the heavenly way and follow jus- 
tice and virtue always, considering that the soul is immortal and able 
to endure every sort of good and every sort of evil. Thus we shall 
live dear to one another and to the gods, both while remaining here 
and when, like conquerors in the games who go round to gather gifts, 
we receive our reward. And it shall be well with us both in this 
hfe and in the pilgrimage of a thousand years which we have been 
describing." 

The chief improvement in architecture was the stone theatres, which 
replaced the wooden buildings of the preceding age. Every city now 
aimed to have a splendid stone theatre large enough to accommo- 
date, if possible, the whole body of citizens. That at Athens is said 
to have seated thirty thousand spectators, though this estimate is 
probably an exaggeration. It is to be noted that the theatre served 
a religious purpose, for the exhibition of a drama was an act of wor- 
ship, generally connected with some religious festival. 



Art 231 

The sculpture of the period is httle inferior to that of the age of 
Pericles, — it shows somewhat less strength but equal beauty. 




The Hermes of Praxiteles 
(Olympia) 

The age is represented by Prax-it'e-les, an Athenian, next to 
Pheidias the most famous sculptor of Greece. His Hermes was dis- 
covered in 1S77 in the ruins of the temple of Hera at Olympia. 
Though delicately finished, the figure is strong and manly. It is the 
most excellent piece of statuary now known to the world. 



232 T]ic Rise of AT ace don 

In our review of tlie period (404-338 B.C.) we notice that in the 
beginning eastern Greece was united under the rule of Sparta, and 
nearly all western Greece under Dionysius, while Sparta and Diony- 
sius were in sympathy with each other. This was the nearest ap- 
proach of Greece to political unity ; but as neither Sparta nor 
Dionysius was equal to the task of ruling a free people, the two great 
political units soon crumbled. Then followed a time of strife and 
weakness, in the course of which Thebes attempted in vain to make 
herself leader of the Greek cities. Finally Macedon, taking advan- 
tage of the disunion and jealousies of the city-republics, conquered 
Greece. 

In politics, therefore, and in military vigor it was an age of decline. 
But in two departments of literature, — oratory and philosophy, — 
and generally in the arts of peace the Greeks made vast improve- 
ments. Though less warlike, their reasoning powers were develop- 
ing, and they were growing more refined and humane. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Philip. — Bury, History of Greece, pp. 683-737; Holm, History of Greece, 
III. chs. xv-xix; Curteis, Macedottian Etnpire, pp. 23-85; Hogarth, /%?7?^ and 
Alexander. 

II. Demosthenes. — Plutarch, Demosthenes ; Butcher, Demosthenes ; see In- 
dices in the various histories of Greece. 



CHAPTER XVII 

ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE AND THE KINGDOMS FORMED FROM IT 

(338-220 B.C.) 

190. Philip Ruler of Greece (338-336 B.C.). — With the battle of 
Chaeroneia the history of Greece merges in that of Macedon. Ac- 
cording to the wishes of PhiHp, the Greek cities retained their consti- 
tutions but committed to him the power to declare war and make 
peace. They also acknowledged him their captain-general in war. 
A congress of Greek states meeting at Corinth deliberated on the 
common affairs of Greece. Sparta alone stood aloof and would have 
nothing to do with Macedon. The other states agreed to furnish 
troops for a war which Phihp wished to undertake against Persia. 
Preparations for this enterprise went on actively till, in 336 B.C., the 
army was ready to move into Asia. But Philip was delayed by 
troubles in his own house. His wife, 0-lym'pi-as, the mother of his 
son Alexander, was an Epeirot princess, a wild, fierce woman, who 
for religious worship indulged in mysteries closely akin to witchcraft. 
Sent home to her kinsmen and supplanted by a younger wife, she 
began in jealous rage to plot against her lord. Between Philip and 
Alexander an angry brawl arose ; then came a reconciliation cele- 
brated with splendid feasts and games. In the midst of the rejoicing 
Philip was assassinated. 

191. Alexander the Great (336 B.C.). — Alexander, who succeeded 
to the kingdom at the age of twenty, found the great work of his 
father rapidly crumbling, — the Macedonians disaffected, barbarous 
tribes threatening invasion, and Greece rebellious. 

He was at this time a ruddy-cheeked youth, with eyes and face 
full of animation and with the form of an Olympic runner. But he 

233 



234 Alexander s Empire 

preferred hunting to athletics and showed his boldness and skill by 
taming the fiery horse Bu-ceph'a-lus. There was in him the same 
eagerness for knowledge as for exercise ; and among his many tutors 
was Aristotle, the most learned of all the Greeks. Alexander was 
passionately fond of the I/iacf, as he found in the hero Achilles his 
own ideal and image. The young king was an impetuous yet manly 
spirit, sincere in an age of deceit, incessantly active in the midst of a 
generation of drones. 

On his accession the wise men of Macedon urged him to proceed 
cautiously in meeting the difficulties which beset him ; but Alex- 
ander with a few masterful strokes reduced his subjects and his 
troublesome enemies to order. In stamping out the rebellion in 
Greece, he took Thebes by storm, destroyed the entire city except- 
ing the temples and the home of Pindar,^ and sold the inhabitants 
into slavery ; but of this severity he afterward repented and tried to 
undo the mischief. The rest of Greece retained the rights which 
his flither had granted, and was not even required to furnish troops 
for the war with Persia in which he was about to engage. 

192. The Invasion of Asia ; Battle on the Granicus (334 B.C.). — 
In the spring of 334 B.C. .Mexander crossed the Hellespont with forty 
thousand troops, and began the invasion of the Persian empire, for 
which the best men of Greece had long been yearning.- He aspired 
to draw the hearts of his people to himself as the hero who would 
punish the Persians for desolating his country and burning its temples. 
The enemy first offered resistance on the Gra-ni'cus River near 
Troy ; without hesitation Alexander crossed the stream under a 
storm of darts, and carried the enemy's position by a bold dash. 
Half of the force which opposed him there consisted of Greeks who 
were serving the Asiatic king for pay. Soon afterward he learned, 
too, that the warships of Hellas would cooperate with the enemy. 
This fact determined him to follow the coast from Ephesus to the 
mouths of the Nile and to seize all the harbors on the way, that 
1 § 96. 2 § 167. 



/ss//s 235 

hostile fleets might find no landing-place in his rear. On the march 
he had to storm fortresses, garrison towns, and keep open his commu- 
nications with Macedon. As the Greek cities of Asia Minor fell one 
by one into his power, he gave them democratic governments, but 
denied them the privilege of banishing oligarchs. Hellas had never 
before seen a policy at once so vigorous and so humane. 

While passing through Asia Minor, Alexander came to Gordium, the ancient 
capital of Phryg'i-a. The story is told that he was there shown the celebrated 
chariot the yoke of which was tied with a peculiar knot. An oracle had declared 
that whoever untied the knot should be lord of Asia. Alexander, despairing of 
finding the ends, drew his sword and cut the thong, thus making the prophecy 
favor himself. Hence the proverb " to cut the Gordian knot " means to solve an 
intricate problem by some bold, direct expedient. 

193. The Battle of Issus (333 B.C.) ; Alexander and the Greeks. — 

At Is'sus in Cilicia he met Darius in command of a vast host, yet 
posted in a narrow valley where numbers did not count. One Mace- 
donian faced perhaps twenty Asiatic troops, but this fact did not 
trouble Alexander. By a skilful attack he routed the unwieldy mass, 
and sent the royal coward into headlong flight. Alexander always 
exposed himself recklessly in battle, and on this occasion was 
wounded by a sword-thrust in the thigh. A great quantity of booty, 
and even the mother, wife, and children of the king, fell into his 
hands. These persons he treated kindly, but he refused to negotiate 
with Darius for peace : " For the future when you wish anything of 
me, send to me not as your equal, but as the lord of all Asia ; and if 
you dispute my right to the kingdom, stay and fight another battle 
for it instead of running away." 

Soon after this battle he took captive some ambassadors who had 
come up from Greece to form with Darius a common plan of resist- 
ance to the Macedonians. Instead of punishing the envoys for what 
he might have regarded as treason, he found excuses for them and 
let them go. For a time Alexander tried to win the Greeks by 
similar acts of kindness ; afterward he alienated them by his own 
unreasonableness. 



236 Alexander s Empire 

194. The Siege of Tyre (332 B.C.) ; Founding of Alexandria. — 

From Issus Alexander proceeded to Tyre. The capture of this city 
by siege and storm was the most brilUant of all his military exploits. 
Though harassed by fire-ships on his flanks and by sorties from the 
harbors, he succeeded in building a mole from the mainland to the 
isle on which the city stood. During the siege he collected a fleet 
of Greek and Phoenician vessels, and on the completion of the mole 
he made the attack at once by land and sea. Many thousand Tyrians 
were slain in the storming of their city, and thousands of captives 
were sold into slavery. The great emporium of the East was left a 
heap of ruins. Darius could no longer look for help from the Phoe- 
nician navy, or from the Greeks. He now offered still more favorable 
terms of peace, — Alexander should have all the country west of the 
Euphrates, and should become the son-in-law and ally of the king. 
"Were I Alexander," said Par-me'ni-on, the ablest Macedonian 
general, " I should accept the offer." " And so should I, if I were 
Parmenion," Alexander replied, and sent word to Darius that he 
would not content himself with the half, since the whole was already 
his, and that if he chose to marry his adversary's daughter, he would 
do so without asking the father's consent. Darius then began fresh 
preparations for war, and Alexander marched on to Egypt, which 
yielded without resistance. Near one of the mouths of the Nile he 
founded Alexandria to take the place of Tyre, and with its trade- 
routes to bind fast his new dominions to the throne of his fathers. 
It grew to be the greatest commercial city of the eastern Mediter- 
ranean. 

Before departing from Egypt Alexander paid a visit to the oracle 
of the god Amnion in an oasis of the Libyan desert, and received 
assurance from the deity who sat in this vast solitude that he, the 
conqueror of nations, was in reality a son of Zeus. 

195. The Battle of Arbela (331 B.C.). — From the Nile country 
Alexander led his army into the heart of the Persian empire. Some 
sixty miles from Ar-be'la, north of Babylon, he again met the enemy. 



Arbela 



237 



On this occasion Darius had chosen a favorable position, a broad 
plain in which his force of a million men found ample room for 
movement. The two armies halted in view of each other. While 
Alexander's troops slept the night through, Darius, keeping his men 
under arms, reviewed them by torchlight. Parmenion, beholding all 
the plain aglow with the lights and fires of the Asiatics, and hear- 
ing the uncertain and confused sound of voices from their camp 
like the distant roar of the 
vast ocean, was amazed at the 
multitude of the foe, and hast- 
ening to the tent of Alexander, 
besought him to make a night 
attack that darkness might 
hide them from the enemy. 
" I will not steal a victory ! " 
the young king replied. He 
knew Darius would lose all 
hope of resistance only when 
conquered by force of arras in 
a straightforward battle. It 
was a fierce struggle which 
took place on the following 
day ; but the steady advance 
of the phalanx and the furious 
charge of the Macedonian 
cavalry under the lead of their Constantinople) 

king won the day over the unorganized, spiritless mass of Orientals. 
Many a Persian grandee's womanly face was marred on that day by 
the lance-points of Alexander's " companions." The long struggle 
between two continents which began with the earliest Persian attacks 
on Greece was decided in favor of Europe by the intelligent and 
robust manliness of the Westerners. 

196. Other Conquests and Plans (331-323 B.C.). — Darius fled 




ALKXANDI'.K ]N r.A [ [ i.k 
(From the " Sarcophagus of Alexander ' 



238 A/tX(iH(fir's Jjiipirc 

nortlnvanl ami was iniinlcivd by an atloiulaiU on the way. Alex- 
ander as his successor was master oi the empire. Ikibylon sur- 
rendered without resistance. The hheral mind oi the conqueror 
showed itself in his respect for the gotls of this ancient seat of 
civilization, lie had an especial reason for seeking the good-will 
of the inhaliitants, for he wished to make their city the capital of 
his world empire. l''rom liabylon he ])ushed on to Susa, the summer 
residence of the Persian kings. Here an immense treasure of 
silver anil gokl — estimatetl at fifty tlu)usand talents — fell into his 
hands. Thence he fought his difficult way, against mountaineers 
and imperial troojis, \.o I'ersepolis, the cajtital of Persia pri)per. In 
this city he found a much greater treasure of the precious metals 
— a hundred and twenty thousand talents. For ages the Persian 
kings had been hoarding tiiis wealth, which the conqueror was now 
to put into ciri-ulation. One night while he and his friends were 
carousing there, tiie idea occurred to them to burn the beautiful 
palace of the kings in revenge for the destruction of the Athenian 
temples by Xerxes. The deed was hardly ilone befi)re Alexander 
repented his folly. 

.1 /no i-tvn/>(iii^i!s were slill ni'cded to pacify the great country. 
The victorious marches which he next made into the rcnuite ntirth- 
crly provinces of Bac'tri-a and Sog-di-a'na ami to distant India are 
interesting binh as brilliant military achievements and as exjilora- 
tions of regions hilherlo unknown to the lirecks. llis return from 
India through the Ge-dro'si-an desert was a marvellous feat of en- 
durance. The men marched for sixty days, hungry and thirsty, 
through burning sands and under a lurid sky, to gratify the ambi- 
tion i)f their leader. Thiee-fourths of the army perished on the 
way ; but .Alexander was now lord of Asia, and to suc-h a despot 
human life is cheap, llis admiral Ne-ar'chus, who at the same 
time was voyaging fri)m the mouth of the Indus to the Persian 
Ciulf, opened a water-route to India. Hut for a long time there 
was little conu«erce with India and the far East. 



AcJdcvciiii'iits 239 

Immediately after his return to iialjylon, Alexandcir l)egan to settle 
the affairs of his empire, vvhieli rcac-lied from the western limits of 
(In^ece to the Ily])h'a-sis River in fndia, and from the Jax-ar'les 
River to l''ahio[)ia, - the greatest extent of coiinliy yet united imder 
one government. Me busied himself, loo, with recruiting and reor- 
ganizing the army and with building an immense fleet; for he was 
planning the conquest of Arabia, Africa, and western lOurope. 

197. His Death (323 B.C.) and Achievements. — ^VVhen ready to 
set out on his expedition to the West, he suddenly fell sick of a fever 
caused i)rol)al)ly by excessive (h"inking. As he grew rapidly worse, 
the soldiers forced their way in to see their beloved connnander once 
more, and the whole army passed in single file by his bed. He was 
no longer able to speak, but his eyes and uplifted hand expressed his 
silent farewell. 

He was in his thirty-third year when he died, but the work lu/iich 
lie accomplished in his short career fills a larger space in the world's 
history perhaps than that of any other human being. His mission 
was to make Hellenic civilization the conniion property of mankind. 
This he accomplished chiefly by means of his colonies, la every 
jiart of his emi)ire he planted cities, more than seventy in all, eacdi 
with a (Ireek nucleus, beginning usually with the worn-out soldiers of 
his army. These settlements held the empire in allegiance to their 
king, bound the several parts of it together by the ties of commerce, 
and spread Greek culture among the natives. It was an enterprise 
for which the Greeks had long l)een waiting, and in which, therefore, 
they tocjk an eager part. 

Alexander im])roved greatly the administration of the emi)irc. 'I'he 
salraj) had been a despot after the pattern of the king whom he 
served, uniting in himself all military, financial, and judicial authority; 
l)ut Alexander in organizing a ])r()vince assigned each of these fimc- 
tions to a distinct officer, so that the work of government could be 
done better than before, and there was far less opportunity for the 
al)use of power. 'I'hough the empire was broken after his death, his 



240 Alexander'' s Empii'e 

colonization and administration continued till the fragments of the 
empire came into the possession of Rome. 

Alexander's mind had expanded rapidly with the progress of his 
conquests. First king of Macedon, next captain-general of Hellas, 
then emperor of Persia, he aspired finally to be lord of the whole 
earth, to unite Europe, Asia, and Africa into a single nation. But the 
dizzy height of power to which he had climbed disturbed his mental 
poise ; in an outburst of passion he murdered his dearest friend ; his 
lust for worship grew upon him till he baile the manly Macedonians 
grovel before him like servile Asiatics, and sent an order to the 
Greeks to recognize him as a god. Although his errors were many, 
they were soon forgotten, while the good he did passed into history. 

198. The Succession ; the Battle of Ipsus (301 B.C.)- — When Alex- 
ander died the authority passed to his generals, all trained in war yet 
none qualified to fill the ])lace of the master. As his son was but an 
infant, and as the generals began to fight among themselves for the 
first place, the empire naturally fell to pieces. 

On his death-bed Alexander had given his signet ringtoPer-dic'cas, 
and had said in effect that this man was best fitted to succeed him. 
Perdiccas, accordingly, ruled for a time as guardian of the infant heir ; 
but when the regent was killed by his own troops, An-tig'o-nus, 
another general, made himself master of Asia, and claimed the right 
to govern the whole empire. Four rivals, Ptol'e-my, Se-leu'cus, 
Ly-sim'a-chus, and Cas-san'der, combined against him. A large part 
of the civilized world engaged in the struggle. Lysimachus and 
Seleucus defeated their mighty foe at Ip'sus in Phrygia (301 B.C.). 
This was one of the most important battles of ancient times, as it 
determined the history of the empire till it fell under the power of 
Rome. 

The victors divided the empire into kingdoms for themselves : 
Seleucus received Asia from Phrygia to India ; western Asia Minor 
and Thrace fell to Lysimachus ; Ptolemy became king of Egypt ; and 
Cassander, already governor of Macedon, was now recognized as 



The Scleucidae 241 

sovereign. In this way four kingdoms arose from the empire. 
Somewhat later Lysimachus was killed and his realm divided. While 
most of his Asiatic possessions were annexed to the kingdom of 
Seleucus, barbarous tribes, including many Gauls, seized the interior 
of Thrace and threatened the Greek cities along the coast. 

The three remaining kingdoms have a longer history. 

199. The Empire of the Seleucidae ; Egypt. — Among the succes- 
sors of Alexander the ablest administrator was Seleucus. Following 
the policy of his master, he planted as many as seventy-five colonies 
in his realm. Among them was Se-leu'ci-a on the Tigris, said to 
have contained six hundred thousand inhabitants and to have rivalled 
Babylon in splendor. As a capital for his kingdom he founded 
Antioch in Syria, not far from the sea. " The new towns were all 
built on a large and comfortable model ; they were well paved ; they 
had ample arrangements for Hghting by night, and for a good water- 
supply ; they had police arrangements, and good thoroughfares 
secured to them by land and water. These were in themselves privi- 
leges enough to tempt all the surrounding peasants, all the people 
who lived in old-fashioned incommodious villages, to settle in a fresh 
home."^ This is what the Greeks under the patronage of Seleucus 
were doing for Asia. Colonists from every part of Greece brought 
their industry and enterprise to every part of the Seleucid empire ; 
they furnished the intelligence and the skill by which the whole com- 
mercial business as well as the civil service of the empire was con- 
ducted. The new towns were Hellenic in language, in civilization, 
and in their free local institutions. Through them Seleucus and his 
descendants, the Se-leu'ci-dae, continued Alexander's work of 
Hellenizing the East, making the people in the great country over 
whom they ruled one in language, in culture, and in sympathy. As 
the promoters of civilization, the Seleucidae were the most worthy 
among the successors of Alexander. 

Ptolemy and his successors, the Ptolemies, looked after the welfare 

1 Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought, p. 307. 

R 



242 Alexander's Empire 

of their subjects, the Egyptians, that their own revenues might be large 
and their power secure. Under them Alexandria became a wealthy 
commercial city and a famous seat of learning. Literature flourished, 
and science made great progress. In this city Greeks, Jews, and 
Egyptians, mingling in social life and in study, produced a broader 
civilization than the world had yet known.^ 

200. Macedon and Greece (323-322 B.C.). — When the Greeks 
heard that Alexander was dead, they revolted, and defended Ther- 
mopylae against An-tip'a-ter, who preceded Cassander as governor 
of Macedon. Demosthenes, who had been heavily fined on a charge 
of embezzUng public funds, was in exile. As he travelled through 
Peloponnese in company with Athenian envoys, his eloquence 
awakened the communities to an Hellenic war of liberation. In 
recognition of his loyal spirit and his service in the cause of freedom, 
the Athenians recalled him and appropric;ted fifty talents with which 
to pay his fine. 

Meanwhile the Greeks had pushed Antipater back into Thessaly 
and were besieging him in La'mi-a, — whence this struggle is known 
as the Lamian War. 

Many states, chiefly the Aetolians, supported the Hellenic cause. 
For a time all were hopeful ; but an attack on Lamia failed, and 
thereafter everything went wrong. Finally the states fell apart, and 
Antipater made separate treaties with them. Athens was compelled 
to receive a Macedonian garrison at Mu-nych'i-a, to exclude her 
poorer citizens from the franchise, and to deliver up the orators who 
had opposed Macedon. Among these offenders was Demosthenes. 
He fled at once from Athens, and soon afterward took poison, that 
he might not fall alive into the hands of his pursuers. Thus his 
mighty spirit ceased to contend against despotism. On the base of 
his statue his countrymen placed this epitaph : " Had your strength 
equalled your will, Demosthenes, the Macedonian War-God would 
never have conquered Greece." 

1 For the scholars!iip of Alexandria, see § 203. 



Ac to Ha and AcJiaca 243 

201. The Great Federal Unions (to 235 B.C.)- — The Greeks began 
to feel that in order to preserve their liberties they must unite more 
closely. The first to put this idea into practice were the Aetolians', 
the least civilized of the Greeks, yet among the foremost in political 
capacity. The league of Aetolian tribes which had existed from early 
times enjoyed in the present period a remarkably good form of gov- 
ernment. Many communities outside of Aetolia: — in Peloponnese, 
in the Aegean, and about the Hellespont — willingly joined it. 
Though others were forced to become members, yet all had equal 
rights and enjoyed fair representation in the government. As the 
Aetolians had a good representative system and in addition a strong 
magistracy, their state was a great improvement on the city-state, 
such as Athens or Sparta ; it was a federal union somewhat like that 
of the United States. Had the Aetolians been more civilized, 
they would have proved a blessing to Greece ; but their appetite 
for plunder too often led them to side with the enemies of their 
race. 

Some Achaean cities, too, renewed an ancient league in imitation 
of Aetolia. From this small beginning a great federal union was 
afterward built up, chiefly by A-ra'tus, a noble of Sicyon. The father 
of Aratus had been killed by the tyrant of his city, and the lad who 
was one day to be the maker of a great state grew up an exile in 
Argos. While still a young man he expelled the tyrant from his 
native city and brought it into the Achaean League. " He was a 
true statesman, high-minded, and more intent upon the public than 
his private concerns ; a bitter hater of tyrants, making the common 
good the rule and law of his friendships and enmities." He ad- 
vanced so rapidly in the esteem of the Achaeans that they elected 
him general when he was but twenty-seven years of age. Their con- 
fidence was by no means misplaced. Under his lifelong guidance 
the league extended itself till it came to include all Peloponnese with 
the exception of Lacedaemon. Nothing was so dear to him as the 
union he was fostering, " for he believed that the cities, weak indi- 



244 Alexander' s Empire 

vidually, could be preserved by nothing else but a mutual assistance 
under the closest bond of the common interest."^ His jealousy of 
other leaders — his desire to remain sole general — seems pardonable 
when we think of this great state as the work of his hands. 

202. Cleomenes and Aratus (235-220 B.C.). — The further growth 
of the league was hindered on one side by Athens, too proud to act 
with other states, and on the other by Lacedaemon, now under an 
able king, Cleomenes. Wishing to restore decayed Sparta to her 
ancient condition, Cleomenes abolished the ephorate, cancelled 
debts, and redistributed property with a view to increasing the num- 
ber of citizens and soldiers. Sincere in his desire to benefit his city, 
he was perhaps the ablest statesman and the greatest hero of Greece 
after Alexander. Cleomenes applied for permission to bring his 
state into the league and asked to be made general. The admission 
of Sparta on these terms would have made the union more lasting, 
especially as it would have provided an able, noble-hearted man 
to succeed Aratus. But the Achaean statesman refused. Such 
heroic self-sacrifice could hardly be expected of human nature ; and 
Aratus, though he hved for the glory of the union, was selfish. 
Cleomenes, who had already opened war upon the league, now 
assailed it so vigorously that Aratus was induced to call upon Mace- 
don for help. A Macedonian army entered Peloponnese and thor- 
oughly defeated Cleomenes. When the Spartan king saw all his 
hopes shattered, he bade farewell to his ruined country and sailed 
away to Egypt, where he met a violent death. Greece was now in a 
wretched plight : Sparta had lost her independence, and the Achaean 
League had for the time being enslaved itself to Macedon. Aratus, 
the mainstay of the union, was poisoned at the instigation of Philip V,^ 
who had become king of Macedon in 220 B.C. 

Soon afterward the Romans began to interfere in Greek affairs. 
The story of their conquest of Greece will be told in connection with 
the history of Rome. 

1 Plutarch, Aratus, 24. "^ §§ 263, 266. 



Alexandria 245 

The Decline of Culture ; The Hellenistic Age ' 

203. Literature (after 338 B.C.). — In this period art and literature 
declined. The death of Demosthenes occurred in the year after 
that of Alexander. Another great name connected with the early 
part of this period is that of Ar'is-tot-le. He studied twenty 
years at Athens under Plato, and became a teacher of Alexander 
the Great. His achievement was to classify knowledge into 
departments of science, as ethics, physics, pohtics, etc. His 
writings are an encyclopaedia of all the sciences. Although he 
made some use of observation and experiment, he relied mainly 
on his reason for finding new truth. His works controlled the 
thought of scholars till four hundred years ago, when Bacon be- 
gan a new era in science by laying greater stress on experiments as 
a means of discovering knowledge. The student of history will be 
interested in Aristotle's Politics, a treatise on the State, and in his 
Constitution of Athens. The latter work, discovered in Egypt a few 
years ago, is one of a large number of constitutional histories of Greek 
cities prepared by himself and his pupils. Of all these histories that 
of the Athenian constitution is the only one we have. The death of 
Alexander (323 B.C.) dates the beginning of the Hel-len-is' tic Age. 
The term Hellenistic — as distinguished from Hellenic — applies to 
the language and civilization of those Eastern people who adopted 
the culture and speech of the Greeks. 

The most famous seat of this civilization was Alexandria under the 
Ptolemies. The chief institution of learning there was the Museum, 
founded by the first Ptolemy and greatly enlarged by his son, Ptol- 
emy Phil-a-del'phus. It was a collection of buildings on a piece 
of ground sacred to the Muses, — hence the name. The institution 
was thoroughly equipped with observatories, zoological gardens, and 
herbaria. The library, containing more than five hundred thousand 

^ Those teachers who wish to follow the political narrative without interruption 
may oniit § 203. 



246 



A Icxandcr ' s Empire 



manuscripts, was the largest in ancient times. Learned men were 
attracted to the Museum by the great facihties for investigation and 
by the HberaUty of the government in providing them with a Hving 
during their residence there. Among the buildings were dwellings 

for the scholars and a 
dining hall in which all 
ate together at public 
expense. 

The scholars of the 
Museum occupied them- 
selves with editing and 
explaining Homer and 
other ancient poets, with 
mathematical and as- 
tronomical investiga- 
tions, with computing 
the size of the earth and 
arranging the events of 
the world's history in 
chronological order. 
The Jews, who had their 
quarter in Alexandria, 
enjoyed equal oppor- 
tunities with the Greeks 
for trade and for culture. 
Under the patronage "of the Ptolemies, learned Jews translated their 
Bible — the Old Testament — into Greek. This version is called the 
Sep'tu-a-gint because of the number of men said to have been en- 
gaged in the work. The fact that such a translation was necessary 
proves that even the Jews, with all their love for the institutions of 
their fathers, had exchanged their own language for that of Hellas. 

The most eminent poet of this cultured circle was The-oc'ri-tus, a 
composer of pastoral idyls. His delightful pictures of country life 




AroLLO Bklxki-'Erk 

(Vatican Museum. This statue belongs to the 
Hellenistic Age) 



Literature 247 

pleased the prosaic scholars of Alexandria, and have charmed the 
world to the present day. The age is less celebrated for poetry, 
however, than for learning. 

Greek literature as a tvhole is the best that the world has pro- 
duced. Not only were the people an energetic, manly race, but they 
had taste and good sense, and well understood the fitness of things. 
Above all, they loved beauty. Hence their language is clear, forcible, 
and graceful ; it expresses precisely the most delicate shades of 
meaning. Furthermore the literature is original in all its depart- 
ments. In ancient times Greek was the universal language of learn- 
ing and commerce ; it was spoken and understood not only throughout 
Alexander's great empire, but over the entire Mediterranean world. 
We moderns learn the Greek language and literature in order to 
sharpen our intelligence, refine our taste, and make ourselves ac- 
quainted with some of the greatest poets, historians, orators, and 
philosophers of all time. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Alexander. -^-'Plutarch, Alexander ; Bury, History of Greece, pp. 738- 
836; Curteis, Alacedonian Empire^ pp. 85-215; Holm, History of Greece, iii. 
chs. xx-xxvii; ITogarth, Philip and Alexander ; V^\ie.&\tx, Alexatider. 

II. The Federal Unions. — (i) Aetolian League: Polybius (translated by 
Shuckburgh; see Index); Holm, History of Greece, iv. pp. 257-265; Greenidge, 
Greek Constitutional History, pp. 231-235. (2) Achaean League: Polybius 
(translated by Shuckburgh; see Index); Plutarch, Arattis ; Philopoeinen ; 
Cleomenes ; Holm iv. pp. 219-231, 260-265; Greenidge, pp. 235-243. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

PRIVATE AND SOCIAL LIFE 

204. Childhood and Education. — In our study of the Spartans we 
have already noticed their more important social customs.^ The other 
states differed from Sparta and from one another. In this chapter 
we shall restrict ourselves to the home life and the society of Athens. 

Soon after the birth of a child, usually the tenth day following, the 
parents gave a festival to their friends and kinsmen. On this occa- 




A School 
(From a Vase-painting) 

sion the child received its name, the eldest son generally being called 
after the paternal grandfather. For the first six years boys and girls 
alike grew up under the care of the mother and nurses. With their 
many toys and games they certainly enjoyed life as much as children 
now do. 

At the beginning of his seventh year the boy was entrusted to the 

1 § 88 f. 
248 



Education 249 

care of a slave termed pedagogue, — usually an old man, who watched 
over his behavior and accompanied him to and from school. In the 
elementary schools the boys learned reading, writing, grammar, arith- 
metic, and music. The reading was in Homer, Theognis, and other 
old poets. All these branches were included under the name music. 
Boys from the same quarter of the town marched together to school 
in good order and lightly clad, even if it snowed thicker than meal. 
They attended till they were sixteen. Meanwhile they were exercis- 
ing in the palestra — wresthng school. During this period their 
physical training was probably light ; but from their sixteenth year 
they engaged in more vigorous exercises. Enrolled as citizens at the 
age of eighteen, they passed the next two years in military as well 
as gymnastic training. Youths and men attended a gymnasium, 
whereas the palestra was exclusively for boys. Both kinds of train- 
ing schools aimed not only to make boys and youths physically 
sound, but also to give them modesty and dignity. 

The sons of poor parents had to satisfy themselves with an element- 
ary education. Those, on the other hand, who had means and a 
taste for learning pursued more advanced studies under a rhetorician 
or sophist, who gave oral instruction, for which he charged a high fee. 
Beginning with the age of Pericles, no Athenian could hope to suc- 
ceed in public life without special training in rhetoric — the theory 
and practice of oratory. This advanced course ranged in length 
from a few days or weeks to perhaps three or four years. Some from 
pure love of learning studied under all the great masters ; and those 
who wished to become teachers or philosophers devoted a large part 
of their lives to the work of preparation. 

205. "Women and Marriage. — Athenian girls were kept closely at 
home, and received instruction from their mothers and nurses. 
Although proficient in domestic affairs, they had little musical and 
intellectual education. Foreign women in Athens were far freer ; 
many were mentally and socially accomplished, and hence were more 
attractive than the dau2;hters of the citizens. 



250 



Private and Social Life 




o ^ 
35 W) 



9 > 



2 fe 



Between twenty and thirty a man 
usually married. There was no 
opportunity for courtship ; in fact 
the young people rarely knew each 
other before the wedding, but the 
youth's father chose the bride, and 
with her father or guardian settled 
the contract. Marriage was largely 
a business affair : every father gave 
his daughter a dowry proportioned 
to his wealth ; and as parents were 
anxious to keep the hereditary 
property within the family, they 
preferred to marry their children to 
near relatives. This intermarriage 
of near kinsfolk was perhaps the 
chief cause of the physical decHne 
of the Athenians. 

Before the wedding both bride 
and groom bathed in water brought 
from the sacred spring. In the 
morning a sacrifice was offered to 
the marriage gods, and later in the 
day the relatives, men and women, 
feasted at the house of the bride's 
father. In the evening a proces- 
sion escorted her to her new home. 
She rode in a carriage by her hus- 
band's side, while the rest accom- 
panied on foot, some playing the harp 
and flute, others singing the bridal 
song. Various ceremonies attended 
her entrance into the house. 



The Banquet 251 

The wife was not often seen in public. She was present at the 
funerals of her kin and took part in religious festivals. Accompanied 
by a slave, she walked or rode along the streets to the houses of her 
friends. But in her own home the wife was mistress, and she who 
had the necessary mental gifts controlled the opinions and even the 
politics of her husband. Restrictions upon her freedom applied to 
the wealthy only, and especially to the city people. Among the poor 
and in the country, women enjoyed a large degree of liberty. 

206. The Banquet. — After marriage, as before, men spent most of 
their time away from home, — in the gymnasia and the schools of 




A Banquet 
(From a Vase-painting) 

philosophy, in the courts or magistracies, in business and society. 
Often for the celebration of a happy event a man invited his male 
friends to an evening dinner, ending in a symposium, or drinking- 
bout. On such an occasion the host entertained his guests with 
many dainty dishes ; but the Athenians were naturally frugal, and 
their feasts were far less expensive than those of the Romans. 

The guests reclined in pairs on couches. After they had washed 
their hands in bowls passed round for the purpose, slaves set before 
them low three-legged tables, on which they then placed the food. 
The guests used spoons, but no fork and rarely a knife. As they 
therefore soiled their hands, it was necessary to wash again after eat- 



252 



Private mid Social Life 



ing. For the symposium they wreathed their heads in garlands, and 
chose a ruler who decided how much wine should be drunk and 
what the subjects of conversation should be. They weakened their 
wine with water, so that intoxication was rare. While they were 

drinking, jugglers, dan- 
cers, and musicians of 
both sexes entertained 
them. The guests 

themselves sang or told 
riddles or conversed, as 
the ruler directed. 

207. Slavery.— 
Nearly all labor, skilled 
and unskilled, was in the 
hands of slaves. This 
class consisted chiefly of 
foreigners whom the 
Greeks captured in war 
or purchased. Few were 
born in Attica. It some- 
times happened that a 
single Athenian owned 
as many as a thousand 
slaves, but the total number in Attica probably never exceeded a 
hundred thousand. Many worked in the mines ; many were skilled 
manufacturers ; some served the state as police ; and a few even 
managed the business of their masters. 

The slave at Athens was kindly treated. He dressed like a free 
laborer ; he talked boldly, and rarely stepped aside in the street to 
let a citizen pass. His master dared not kill him, and in case of 
severe mistreatment he could take refuge at the shrine of Theseus, 
and require his brutal owner to sell him to another. 

Slavery afforded the Athenians leisure for politics, literature, and 




An Athenian Gravestone 



Slavery 



253 



art. Hence it was a necessary factor in the development of their 
civihzation. But in spite of all advantages the institution is a mon- 
strous evil. By degrading labor it impoverishes the common free- 
men, and it corrupts the morals not only of the slave but also of the 
master. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Education. — B\\imn&r, Honie Life of ike A^uieiii Greeks, c\\,'\\\', Becker, 
Charities (N.Y. 1895), PP- 217-240; Guhl and Koner, Life of the Greeks and 
Romans, § 50; see also Indices of the various histories of Greece. 

II. Slavery. — Bliimner, ch. xv; Becker pp. 356-373; see Indices of the 
various histories of Greece. 




Artemis 
(Museum of the Louvre ; Hellenistic Age) 




Temple of Vesta and of the Sibyl 
(Tibur) 

PART III 

ROME 



CHAPTER I 

THE PEOPLE AND THE COUNTRY 

208. The Migration into Italy. — Like the Greeks, the Italians 
spoke an Aryan language.* From the primitive home of this speecti 
the Aryan tribes, or races, moved farther and farther apart, some 
eastward to Persia and India, others to various regions of Europe. 
In the countries to which they came many natives mingled with them, 
and adopted their language, customs, and ideas. 

The particular people whose story we are to follow journeyed to the 
peninsula now known as Italy. Apparently they came by land from 

254 



The Sabeltians 255 

across the Alps. Then moving gradually through the peninsula, the 
swarms of warriors, with their women and children and their herds, 
drove before them or subdued the earlier inhabitants, and fought 
among themselves for the best lands, while alien tribes pressed 
after them and continually pushed them on. In this way they 
came to occupy most of central Italy. 

209. The Sabellians. — In the interior of their narrow country 
they found rugged, snow-capped mountains, deep gorges, and rag- 
ing torrents. Dark forests covered the steep slopes and even the 
table-lands. The principal Italian settlers in this wild, grand region 
were the Sa-bel'Ii-ans. They cleared a few spots of ground, which 
they began to cultivate with rude tools ; they roamed the woods for 
game or watched their flocks in the valleys. They were a patient, 
hardy race ; and their constant struggle with the forces of nature, 
with savage beasts and bold enemies, made them grave, stern, and 
intensely religious. 

The Sabellians did not form one state in the modern sense, but 
each mountain valley or plateau was the abode of a tribe with its own 
independent government. All the common warriors of the tribe 
gathered in an assembly to elect their chief, and under his presi- 
dency, to vote OB important questions, as of war and peace. A few 
of the old men,' who in youth had been most valiant, or to whom age 
had brought most wisdom, met in a senate, or council of elders, to 
advise and assist the chief in his duties, and especially to point out 
to him the will of the gods and the means of securing their favor. 
These were the earliest political institutions of the Sabellians, and in 
fact of all the Italians, — the crude elements from which the Roman 
constitution was to grow. 

The parent stock of this race is said to have been the Sabines, in 
the mountains near the centre of the peninsula. Once they sent forth 
a host of youths, who occupied the vast mountainous region known as 
Sain'ni-um, a country famous in Italian history. In like manner the 
Mar'si-ans — sons of Mars — setting out from Sa-bi'na, settled nearer 



256 The People and tJie Cojtntry 

the mother country. Other emigrants from the same home are said 
to have followed a woodpecker {^ pic us) to the northeast, wliere 
they occupied the country between the mountains and the sea and 
called themselves IM-cen'ti-ans after their guide. The Sabellians, 
like the Sabines, sent out many colonies, which in time covered the 
high ranges and the eastern slopes of central Italy. 

210. The Umbrians and the Latins. — From the Um'bri-ans, their 
kinsmen on the north, they had nothing to fear. For these people 
were somewhat more civilized anil consequently more attached to 
their homes than were their southern neighbors. As the Umbrians 
were weak, too, from lack of union among themselves, they gradually 
yielded groimd to the vigorous, intelligent Ivtrus'cans, who pressed 
ujion their northern and western borders. It was rather in LaWi-uiu, 
a small country on tlie western coast, that the Sabellians were to find 
their mortal foes. Tiiis was a flat district about the lower Tiber, ex- 
tending thence some distance to the southeast, between the moun- 
tains and the sea. Here dwelt the Latins, an Italian tribe related to 
the Umbrians and the Sabellians. On account of their fertile fields 
near the coast, they grew more wealthy and more refined than their 
kinsmen in the interior. As far back as our record goes, the moun- 
taineers were fighting tlie men of the i^lain. In time their petty wars 
were to culminate in a long, fierce struggle between the Latins and 
the Samnites for the control of Italy.' 

211. The City-state; the Cities of Latium. — Originally all the 
Italians luul the same customs and followed the same modes 
of life. In the earliest times they built no cities, but grouped 
their huts in small villages. As there was constant danger from 
invading enemies, neighboring villages joined in fortifying some 
convenient hilltop with a wall of earth or of rough stones. To this 
acropolis- the villagers fled on the approach of an enemy. Here, 
too, thev met to hoUl religious festivals and to talk with one another 
on matters of common interest. As they came in time to have a 

1 § 234 f{. 2 § ^s, n. 2. 



TJw City-state 



257 



chief, a senate, and an assembly of their own, they began to ])ay less 
heed to the tribe of which they formed a part. i''inally when, under 
favorable conditions, the leading men of the villages had acquired 




CiRAVtO or BORM 



considerable property and had learned the advantages of good houses 
and of settled homes, they took up their abode within the wall on 
the hilltop. The city which thus grew up within the tribe enjoyed 
complete independence. It was a city-state like those of Oreece.^ 

^§65. 



258 The People and the Country 

While the SabelHans and most of the Umbrians continued to live 
in villages, cities were growing up in Latium, generally on the spurs 
of the mountains which bordered the plain. Prominent among them 
was Alba Longa, on a long ridge, high above the sea-level. On one 
side of the city towered the Alban Mount ; on the other was a lake 
in the crater of an extinct volcano. Mountain and lake helped defend 
the city against enemies ; the slopes and plains below were beautiful 
to the eye and rich in the produce of all sorts of fruit. In this city 
thirty Latin communities, joining in a league, held an annual festival, 
in which they sacrificed an ox to Ju'pi-ter, their cliief deity. In 
brief. Alba Longa was head of the league. 

Setting out from Alba to the northeast, we soon come to 
Prae-nes'te, one of the strongest places in Latium ; " for its citadel 
was a lofty mountain which overhung the town, and there were 
secret passages beneath the earth connecting the city with the 
plain." ^ From Praeneste we may follow the mountain range north- 
westward to Tibur, another well-fortified city in a remarkably 
beautiful situation. Near by, the Anio falls from a great height 
into a deep, wooded ravine. 

212. Rome. — Without noticing the other cities of the hills, let us 
descend into the plain along the An'i-o to the Tiber. Here and 
there the flat country is dotted with hillocks or streaked with ridges. 
It appears that ages ago volcanoes, then active in the ranges above, 
scattered all these heaps over the plain. On the left bank of the 
Tiber, about fourteen miles from its mouth, we come down upon a 
group of hills ^ which the volcanoes had helped form with showers 
of ashes, sand, and stone. As the people on both banks of the lower 
Tiber needed a place of refuge, they selected one of these hills — the 
Pal'a-tine — and fortified the top with a wall of volcanic stone 
quarried on the spot. In time the enclosure became a city-state 

1 Strabo, v. 3, II. 

2 The names and location of these hills, some of which are called mountains, 
may be found on the map of Rome, p. 278. 




The Fall of the Anio 

(Tibur.) 



Rome 



259 



and was named Rome. The district which belonged to this 
Palatine city lay on both sides of the Tiber between its mouth 
and the Anio, and included 



about a hundred square miles. 
It was as low and flat as any 
part of Latium. To under- 
stand the history of Rome, we 
must first try to discover what 
she learned of her neighbors, 
the Etruscans and the Greeks. 

213. The Etruscans. — 
North of Latium, between the 
Tiber and the sea, was E-tru'- 
ri-a, a country rich in natural 
resources — quarries of white 
and green marble, forests of 
tall straight trees for building, 
lakes which watered the fertile 
lands and teemed with fish. 

In addition to this country, 
so favored by nature, the 
Etruscans possessed a still 
more fertile territory in the 
Po Valley, which lies north of 
Etruria. Warlike and aggres- 
sive, they overran Cam-pa'ni-a, 
the coast country southeast of 
Latium, and with their war- 
ships controlled the sea which washes the west coast of Italy, — 
named after them, Tyr-rhe'ni-an.^ For a time they were the most 
powerful and the most ambitious race in the peninsula. 

^ Tyrrhenian and Etruscan are equivalent in meaning; the former is from the 
Greek, the latter from the Latin. 




An Etruscan War-god 



26o 



TJie People and tJie Coimtry 



Who they were or whence they came we do not know ; and though 
they left abundant inscriptions, no one of the moderns has yet learned 
to read their language. When we first hear of them they were far 

in advance of the 
Italians in all that 
relates to the secu- 
rity, the comfort, 
and the refinement 
of life. They made 
vases and sculp- 
tures ; they paved 
roads, dug canals 
for drainage and 
irrigation, and on 
steep and lofty hills 
they built mas- 
sive walls, strong 
towers, and arched 
gateways. 

From the labor 

of the poor the lords lived in pomp and luxury, and built splendid 
palaces and tombs. They based their power on religion, whose 
mysterious laws none knew but the seers. 

"There be tliirty chosen prophets, 
The wisest of the land, 
Who always with Lars Por'se-na^ 
Both morn and evening stand : 

Evening and morn the Thirty 

Have turned the verses o'er, 
Traced from the right on linen white 

By mighty seers of yore." ^ 

^ Lars Porsena was an Etruscan king ; § 229. 

2 Macaulay, " Horatius," in Lays of Ancient Rome, 




An Etruscan Tomb 
(Near Perugia, Italy) 



TJic Greeks 



261 



Though the beginnings and the general character of this civihza- 
tion were native, the Etruscans admired and imitated the products of 
Greek skill ; and in turn they taught the Romans to interpret omens 
and to build sewers, walls, dwellings, and temples. 

214. The Greeks. — It was destined, however, that as teachers of 
the Italians the Etruscans should in the end be outrivalled by the 
more virile Greeks, who about the middle of the eighth century B.C. 




A Doric Temple 
(Metapontum, Southern Italy) 

began to settle the shores of southern Italy and of Sicily. Beneath 
a sunny sky they found fields of verdure sprinkled with gayly colored 
flowers — a delightful contrast to the stony soil and naked hills of the 
mother country. Their thriving colonies soon lined the Italian coast 
from Dorian Tarentum on the southeast to Chal-cid'ic Cu'mae on the 
west.^ With them came the gods of Greece, who demanded of their 
worshippers athletic contests, graceful processions, the song and the 

1 § 59- 



262 The People and the Country 

dance, beautiful statues and temples. In the arts of peace and war 
the Greeks were teachers of the natives, and found in the Latins their 
aptest pupils. From the people of Cumae the Romans learned the 
alphabet and adopted the worship of Apollo. 

The Italians, the Etruscans, and the Greeks were the chief peoples 
of Italy. Next in importance were the Gauls, who toward the end 
of the sixth century B.C. began to cross the Alps and to settle in the 
valley of the Po. Other races of still less importance need not con- 
cern us here.^ From the mingling of these various peoples time was 
to bring forth a strong, energetic nation. 

215. Effects of Geographical Conditions. — One reason for the po- 
litical union of so many diverse peoples was that the character and 
situation of the country exposed it to attack on all sides. Largely a 
peninsula, Italy is extremely long in proportion to its breadth ; and 
near it in every direction are foreign lands, from which enemies can 
easily come. Feeling the weakness of her position, Italy overcame 
it by union under Rome, her strongest city. The same geographical 
conditions explain another fact : even when united, the country was 
unsafe while the neighboring nations remained free to assail it; and 
thus it was that motives of self-preservation forced Rome, as the head 
of the peninsula, into her career of foreign conquest. 

Looking at a map of the country, we see that mountain ranges, 

1 There were the I-a-pyg'i-ans in the heel of the peninsula, the Ve-ne'ti-ans, 
their kinsmen, at the head of the Adriatic Sea, and the Li-gu'ri-ans in the west 
of Italy opposite Venetia. 

The races of the peninsula may be conveniently grouped as follows : — 

I. Of Non-Aryan Speech I ^^^"•""% 

I Etruscans? 

( ( Latins 

I Italians < Umbrians 

TT rNf A c u I Sabellians 

II. Of Aryan Speech ^^^^^^ ^ 

Gauls 
[ Venetians and lapygians — both related to the Illyrians 
Although the Volscians, Aequians, and Hernicans were Italians, it is not 
known to which group they were most closely related. 



Fair Italy 263 

the Ap'en-nines, extending through the whole length of the penin- 
sula, lie for the most part near the eastern shore. This makes the 
eastern slopes abrupt, the rivers short, the coast rarely broken by 
harbors. On the west the slopes are more gentle, terminating in 
broad, fertile plains traversed by navigable rivers and well supplied 
with bays. In brief, the country is closed to the East and open to 
the West. Turning her back upon the East with its luxury, its vice, 
and its decaying life, Italy faced the fresh vital nations of the West, 
and found her chief interest in giving them her institutions. It was 
from contact with the civilizing influence of Rome that the vigorous 
races of central and western Europe developed into modern nations. 
There is reason, then, for looking upon the Romans as the last of the 
ancients and the first of the moderns. 

216. The Best Country in the Ancient World. — In addition to 
these far-reaching political effects, the Apennines have always 
promoted the well-being and happiness of Italian life ; for in every 
section of the peninsula the people enjoy the products, the climate, 
and the scenery of the mountains as well as of the plains on the sea- 
side. 

" In my opinion," says an ancient Greek writer on Roman history, 
" Italy surpasses even such fruitful countries as Egypt and Babylonia ; 
for I look upon that country as the best which stands least in need 
of foreign commodities. Now I am persuaded that Italy enjoys this 
universal fertility beyond all other countries of the world. For it con- 
tains a great deal of good arable land, without wanting pastures and 
forests, and abounds, I may say, in delights and advantages. Unpar- 
alleled are the plains of Campania, which yield three crops a year, 
bringing to perfection the winter, summer, and autumnal grain ; 
peerless are the olive grounds of the Mes-sa'pi-ans and the Sabines ; 
peerless the vineyards of Etruria and Alba, where the soil is wonder- 
fully kind to vines. Then there are pastures for sheep, goats, horses, 
and neat cattle ; there are the marsh grasses, wet with dew, and the 
meadow grasses of the hills, all growing in unfilled places. I cannot 



264 TJie People and the Country 

help admiring the forests full of all kinds of trees, which supply timber 
for ships and houses. All these materials are ready at hand, for the 
coast is near, and there are many rivers which water the land and 
make easy the exchange of everything the country produces. Hot 
water springs, also, have been discovered in many places, affording 
pleasant baths and cures for chronic sickness. There are mines of 
various sorts, plenty of beasts for hunting, and a variety of sea-fish, 
besides other things innumerable, some useful and others worthy of 
admiration. But the most advantageous of all is the happy temper 
of the air, suiting itself to every season. So that neither the forma- 
tion of fruits nor the constitution of animals is in the least injured by 
excessive cold or heat. No wonder, then, that the ancients, seeing 
this country abounding with universal plenty, dedicated the moun- 
tains and woods to Pan ; the meadows and green lawns to the 
nymphs ; the shores and islands to the sea-gods ; and every delight- 
ful place to its appropriate deity ! " ^ 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Influence of Geography on the History of Italy. — Botsforrl, Rome, 
pp. 13-16; Shuckburgh, ///.f/c;/ of Rome, ch. ii; How and \^€\^, History of 
Rome, ch. i; Liddell, Studenfs Rome, ch. i. 

II. The Etruscans. — Botsford, Rome, pp. 8-10; Sto)-y of Rome, ch. i; 
Mommsen, History of Rome, Bk. I. ch. ix. 

III. The Greeks in Italy. — Botsford, A'o;^^, pp. 11-13; Holm, History of 
Greece, i. pp. 282-291; Abbott, History of Greece, i. pp. 342-348, 

^ Dionysius i. 36-38 (abridged). 



CHAPTER II 

THE BEGINNINGS OF ROME — THE PREHISTORIC AGE (to 509 B.C.) 

217. The Myth of Aeneas and of Romulus and Remus. — When the 
Greeks had taken Troy by means of the wooden horse ^ and were 
slaying the inhabitants, Ae-ne'as, son of An-chi'ses and of Venus, 
goddess of love, escaped by sea together with many followers. And 
though the angry Juno " threatened him with storms and beset his 
path with trials and dangers, his goddess mother guided him safely 
through every peril and brought him after many wanderings to a 
haven on the west coast of fair Italy. There he landed and began 
to build a city. He allied himself with La-ti'nus, king of the country, 
married La-vin'i-a, the king's daughter, and named the new city La- 
vin'i-um, after his bride. 

Trojans and natives lived together in peace, all taking the name 
of Latins after their king, who died somewhat later and was succeeded 
by Aeneas. The next king was As-ca'ni-us, son of Aeneas, who 
founded Alba Longa. Many generations afterward A-mu'li-us 
wickedly expelled his brother Nu'mi-tor from the kingship and him- 
self usurped the throne. He had Numitor's son assassinated and 
compelled Rhe'a, the daughter, to become a Vestal virgin^ that she 
might not marry and bring forth an avenger of the family's wrongs. 
However, she bore to Mars, god of war, twin sons of more than human 
size and beauty. She named them Ro7n^ii-Ius and Re'mus. Set adrift 
on the Tiber by order of the king, they were cast ashore near Mount 
Palatine, and would have perished had not a she-wolf nursed them 
till they were taken up and cared for by a shepherd of that region. 
1 § 50- '^ § 225. 3 § 225. 

265 



266 TJie Beginnings of Rome — The Prehistoric Age 



When they had grown to manhood, they killed Amulius, and restored 
Numitor, their grandfather, to the throne. 

218. Myth of the Founding of Rome (753 B.C.?) ; Myth of the 
Sabine Women. — With the king's consent the twin brothers led a 
colony to the place where they had passed their youth ; but they 
quarrelled as to who should be the founder. When they scanned 

the sky for an omen of the divine 
will, six vultures, birds of Jupiter, 
appeared to Remus, but twelve 
were seen by Romulus, who 
thereupon founded the city on 
Mount Palatine. This he did 
by tracing a quadrangular space 
about the hill with a plough 
drawn by a yoke of cattle, 
Remus, however, in derision, 
leaped the half-finished wall, 
exclaiming, " Methinks any of 
your enemies might leap this as 
easily as I do." Then Romulus, 
or one of his men, replying, 
" But any of us might easily 
chastise that enemy," struck 
and killed him with a pickaxe. 
When Romulus had founded 
Rome, he became the first king 
of the city, and gave his people laws and a constitution. In the origi- 
nal settlement few women had taken part ; the men therefore were 
anxious to secitre wives from the surrounding communities. Romu- 
lus accordingly exhibited games, to which many neighbors, including 
the Sabines, came by invitation. Now while they were watching the 
games, at a given signal the Romans rushed upon the Sabines, and 
seizing their daughters carried them off as wives, each bringing one 




A X'ESTAL X'lKCIN 

(National Museum, Naples) 



TJie Kings 267 

to his own home. To avenge this wrong, Ti'tus Ta'ti-us, king of 
the Sabines, marched with his army against Rome, and joined battle 
with Romulus in the valley below the Palatine afterward occupied by 
the Forum, or market-place. During a pause in the fray the captive 
daughters of the Sabines, rushing between their fathers and their 
husbands, entreated them to cease from war and be forever friends. 
Their prayers prevailed ; and though the Sabines dwelt henceforth 
on the Qui-ri'nal Hill, north of the Palatine, they came under one 
government with the Romans, and were ruled conjointly by Romulus 
and Tatius. This dual reign lasted till the death of the Sabine re- 
stored the whole power to the original Roman king. 

219. Myth of Numa, of TuUus Hostilius, and of Ancus Martius. 
— After Romulus had ended his reign, and had ascended alive to 
heaven, Nu'ma became king. He was the opposite of Romulus, — 
a man of peace, learned in human and divine law, who made it the 
aim of his rule to soften the iron temper of the Romans. Refraining 
from war throughout his reign, he occupied his time in giving reli- 
gious laws and institutions to his people. His warlike neighbors so 
revered him that they could not think of disturbing Rome while he 
was king. 

At his death peace came to an end. Tul'Ius Hos-til'i-us, the third 
king, conquered and destroyed Alba Longa, annexed her territory, 
and removed the people to Rome, where he settled them on the 
Cae'li-an Hill. Following the example of Romulus, he admitted the 
Alban commons to citizenship and enrolled the leading men among 
the nobles. An'cus Mar'ti-us, the fourth king, still further enlarged 
the Roman domain, founded Os'ti-a, at the mouth of the Tiber, to 
be a seaport to his city, and fortified Mount Ja-nic'u-lum, across the 
Tiber, as an outpost against the Etruscans. 

220. Myth of the Tarquins and of Servius Tullius. — While Ancus 
Martius was king, a certain resident of Tar-quin'i-i, in Etruria, journeyed 
to Rome. When he reached the Janiculum, " an eagle, sweeping down 
to him as he sat in his chariot, took off his cap, and with loud screams, 



268 The Beginnings of Rome — The Prehistoric Age 

as if she had been sent from heaven for the very purpose, replaced it 
carefully on his head." ' Thereupon his wife, who was skilled in 
omens, bade her husband hope for a high and noble fortune. They 
proceeded to the city, where the stranger, taking the name of Lu'ci-us 
Tar-quin'i-us Pris'cus (" the Elder") by his courteous manners won 
the favor of all. The people, therefore, elected him king after Ancus. 
He gained famous victories over the Sabines and the Latins, and 
made a beginning of the great public works which his successors 
carried to completion. 

Of the king who came after him the following story is told : — 
A strange thing once happened in the house of Tarquin the Elder. 
Several of his household, as they watched Ser'vi-us Tul'li-KS, a slave 
boy, sleeping, saw his head blaze with fire. Whereupon a servant 
brought water to put out the flame. But the queen, preventing him, 
remarked to her husband, " Do you see this boy whom we are rear- 
ing in so mean a style ? Be assured that hereafter he will be a light 
to us in our adversity, and a protector to our palace in distress."^ 
From that time they treated him as their own son ; and when he 
became a man, they gave him their daughter in marriage. Tarquin 
was afterward assassinated by shepherds set upon him by the sons 
of Ancus Martins, and Servius TuUius succeeded to the throne. 

Servius built a great wall around Rome, reorganized the army, and 
made his city leader of Latium, Such were his magnificent deeds. 
But the plots of his wicked daughter, Tullia, embittered his old age ; 
and at last he was openly murdered by her husband, Tarquin the Elder's 
son, who, succeeding to the throne, gained the hateful title of " the 
Proud." The younger Tarquin completed the public works his 
father had begun. On these buildings he compelled the citizens to 
labor unrewarded till they cursed the tyrant. One day the Sib'yl of 
Cumae came to him with nine books of prophecies of Apollo concern- 
ing the future of Rome. She wished him to buy them, but he ob- 
jected to the price. After she had burned six of them, however, curiosity 
1 Livy i. 34. 2 Livy i. 39. 



The Last King 



269 



and religious fear led him to pay the original price for the remaining 
three. He placed them in charge of a college of two men of rank, 
who kept them in a vault beneath the temple of Jupiter on the Cap'- 
i-to-line Mount and consulted them whenever the state was in especial 
danger or distress. 




Grotto of the Sibyl 
(Cumae) 

But the end of kingly rule was drawing near. The last Tarquin 
broke the laws of the forefathers, slew senators, and so oppressed the 
people by hard labor that they were ready for rebellion. Matters came 
to a crisis when Sex'tus, the brutal son of the king, did violence to 
the honor of Lu-cre'ti-a, a model of virtue among Roman matrons. 
Col-la-ti'nus Tarquinius, husband of Lucretia, and Lu'ci-us Ju'ni-us 
Bru^tus, both kinsmen of the king, led the revolt of nobles and com- 
mons against the tyrant. He was banished, and Brutus persuaded 



2/0 The Beginnings of Rome — TJie Prehistoric Age 

the people to swear that they would nevermore suffer a king to rule 
at Rome. In place of a single Hfelong sovereign, the people thereafter 
elected annually two consuls as chief magistrates with equal power. 

Though all the seven kings are probably mythical, the stories of 
them show in a general way the manner in which Rome grew and the 
character of her institutions in the prehistoric age. 

221. Occupations and Character of the Romans. — As Rome was 
on a navigable river, and well situated for small trade with the 




Cinerary Urns representing Primitive Roman Huts 
(Vaticau Museum ; found in the ancient cemetery at Alba Longa) 

Etruscans and other neighbors, some of the citizens engaged in mak- 
ing wares and in buying and selling. Most of the Romans, however, 
were peasants. The farmer, clad simply in a woollen shirt, or tunic, 
which reached the knee, followed his bronze-shod plough drawn by a 
yoke of cattle. His narrow mind held only sober, practical ideas ; 
for he saw nothing of the world beyond the mountains bordering the 
plain of the Tiber, — mountains which inspired him with no love of 
the beautiful and the grand, but rather with a feeling of hatred for the 



Tribal Organization 271 

enemies who were wont to sweep down from them upon his little 
field. His laborious life, his warfare against famine, pestilence, and 
neighbors who were always harassing, made him stern and harsh, and 
even in his dealing with the gods, calculating and illiberal. Though 
love, pity, and benevolence found little place in his heart, he was 
strong in the more heroic virtues, — he was dignified, brave, and 
energetic ; he reverenced the gods and the forefathers, and obeyed 
the laws ; above all, he was a man of his word. 

222. The Family, the Curia, and the Tribe. — The simple but severe 
character of the Romans found expression in the family. Marriage was 
a religious act which made the home sacred, the house a holy place. 
Within lived Vesta, whose altar was the hearth ; within were the spirits of 
the ancestors, who, in the form of La'res, guarded the house from every 
harm ; within, too, were the Pe-na'tes, who blessed the family store. 

The father was priest of these gods, owner of the estate, and master 
of his wife and children through Hfe. He could load his son with 
chains, sell him into slavery, or put him to death. Even if the son 
were a senator or magistrate, the father could drag him home and 
punish him for misconduct. Woman was always under guardianship, 
the maiden of her father, the matron of her husband. Never- 
theless she was respected : the wife was a priestess at the hearth ; 
and in case the father left no will, the mother and the daughter 
shared equally with the sons in the inheritance. In this strict, moral 
school, young men were disciplined for public life. 

Several families united in a ac'ri-a or brotherhood. On certain 
festal days the men of a brotherhood ate together in a common dining 
hall containing a sacred hearth, on which they kept fire burning per- 
petually in honor of Juno. When war broke out the members of a 
curia followed their leaders to the front, and stood side by side on 
the field of battle. Kinship and religion inspired them to deeds of 
daring ; " the soldier felt ashamed to forsake the comrades with whom 
he had lived in communion of libations, sacrifices, and holy rites." 
Ten curiae united in a tribe, and three tribes composed the state. 



2/2 TJie Beginnings of Rome — The Prehistoric Age 

Whatever else the tribes might have been, we know at least that they 
were military divisions. It seems probable that in early Rome the 
commons of each tribe formed a regiment of foot, and the nobles a 
troop of horse. 

223. The Social Ranks. — The commons were called ple-be'ians 
("the multitude") and the nobles, pa-tri'ci-ans. Those families were 
patrician whose fathers were qualified by birth to be senators, magis- 
trates, and priests. The king could ennoble any plebeian whom he 
considered sufficiently marked by wealth or personal merit. As the 
patricians alone were acquainted with the laws, which were unwritten, 
the plebeian, to secure protection for himself and his family before 
the courts of law, chose a noble as his patron, whom he bound 
himself to serve as a client. Thus many of the plebeians became 
clients of the patricians. The duty of the patron was to giv^e his 
clients legal advice in their business, to sue for them when injured, 
and to defend them when sued. The clients, on the other hand, 
followed their patron to war and supported him in public life, 
labored in his fields or made him presents, that he might fill his 
offices with becoming dignity. Though the original object of client- 
age was doubtless good, we shall see how, after the overthrow of 
the kingship, it became intolerably oppressive (§ 242). 

224. The Government. — When the king wished to consult his 
people on questions of public interest, his criers went about the 
city with ox-horns, calHng them to the co-vii'ti-um, or place of 
assembly. Here the curiae met, each in a group by itself, and 
listened to the proposition of the king with the reasons he might 
urge in its favor. Then each curia voted whether it would sustain 
or oppose the king's wish ; and a majority of the curiae decided 
the matter. This assembly was called the co-mVti-a cu-ri-a'ta. The 
king consulted it when he wished to begin a war, to conclude a 
treaty, to change an existing custom, or to undertake any other 
important business. 

To be binding, such a decision of the assembly had to receive 



The Greatness of Rome 277 

manded. In the front line were forty centuries of a hundred men each; and in 
the second and third lines were ten centuries each. Of the light-armed troops 
there were ten centuries in the fourth class, and fourteen in the fifth. Thus the 
phalanx contained eighty-four hundred footmen. P'rom early times it appears 
to have been composed of two divisions, termed legions, of forty-two hundred 
foot-soldiers each. This organization included mainly plebeians; the patricians 
continued to serve in the cavalry, of which there were six centuries, three to each 
legion. The army, thus organized for the field, contained the men of military 
age — from seventeen to forty-six years. The older men remained in the city for 
the defence of the walls. 

228. Causes of the Greatness of Rome. — At the time of this new 
arrangement the territory of Rome had increased four or five fold, 
chiefly at the expense of the Etruscans, the Sabines, and the Latins. 
When Rome subdued a neighboring city she razed the walls and 
everything they enclosed, excepting the temples, and seized a third 
or perhaps a half of the conquered land. She compelled many of 
the dispossessed people to settle on her own hills, and admitting all 
to the citizenship, bestowed the patriciate upon the nobles. With 
the growth of her territory, therefore, came a corresponding increase 
in her population and her mihtary strength. After the reform of 
Servius, Rome could put into the field a well-organized and well- 
disciplined army of about nine thousand men, foot and horse, — the 
strongest force in Latium. 

In the character and surroundings of the Romans we discover 
several other causes of their future greatness. By persistent labor 
on their little farms the peasants acquired the patience and the 
strength of will which were to make them the best soldiers in the 
world. As sober, practical men, with none of the imagination or 
the ideals of the Greeks, they developed a rare talent for law, 
organization, and self-government. The Seven Hills gave a unique 
opportunity for settlements so close together that they found it 
necessary to combine in one state. This union increased the 
strength of Rome, and introduced a precedent for the free admission 
of strangers to citizenship. The unhealthfulness of the neighboring 
plain, by forcing men to build their homes on the Hills, encouraged 



278 TJie Beginnings of Rome — The Prehistoric Age 



city life and intelligent enterprise. Then, too, the advantage of the 
situation for small trade and manufacturing made the City of the 
Seven Hills the chief market of the Latins. Commercial intercourse 
with the Greeks led Servius to adopt their superior military system, 



EARLY roivee; 




which in turn made Rome the political head of Latium. This event 
was the beginning of a great career. 

Servius and the Tarquins helped much to give their city this proud 
place in Latium. But no sooner had the last Tarquin been expelled, 
and the monarchy displaced by a republic, than Rome found her 
very existence threatened by seditions at home and by powerful 
enemies on every side. 



End of the MojiarcJiy 



279 



Topics for Reading 

I. The Myths of the Kings. — Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. ii. 
II. The Government in the Time of the Kings. — Botsford, Ro7ne, pp. 25- 
27; Pelham, Ouilines of Roman History, -p-p. 22-2g; How and Leigh, History 
of Rome, pp. 42-45 ; Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, ch. ii. The theory 
that in early Rome the curiae were made up exclusively of patricians has no 
foundation. 

III. The Religion of Early Rome. — Ihne, Early Rome, ch. vi; History of 
Rome, i. pp. 117-121; Duruy, History of Rome, i. pp. 199-234. 




The Wall of Servius 



CHAPTER III 

ROME BECOMES SUPREME IN ITALY i (509-264 B.C.) 

First Period of the Republic — External History 

229. Foreign Affairs (509-486 B.C.). — The change from king- 
ship to repubUc came in 509 b.c. In that year the consuls, who 
were now the chief magistrates,- made a treaty with the strong, rich 
city of Carthage. Their nearer neighbors, the Etruscans, however, 
began to trouble them. From the little we know of this matter we 
may infer that Lars Porsena, an Etruscan king,^ conquered Rome 
and held her in subjection for a few years. The Latins, too, aban- 
doned her leadership. But the Romans threw off the Etruscan yoke ; 
and the story is that in a terrible battle at Lake Re-gil'lus they com- 
pletely overthrew the Latins. Thereupon in 493 b.c. Spu'ri-us Cas'- 
si-us, the leading statesman of the early republic, negotiated with 
them a perpetual peace ; the Latin League and the city of Rome 
were to furnish yearly commanders alternately, and were to share 
equally the spoils and the conquered lands. A few years later the 
same statesman extended these terms of union to the Her'ni-cans, 
who, though dwelling in a mountain valley above Latium, may be 
classed with the Romans and the La-tins as civilized lowlanders in 
contrast with the Sabines, the Ae'qui-ans, and the Vol'sci-ans, — rude 
mountaineers. 

1 Teachers are advised to present the external history before the internal, fol- 
lowing the order of the book. But some may prefer to reverse the order and 
offer ch. iv to their classes before ch. iii. 

2 §§ 220, 240. 3 § 213, n. 2. 

280 



The Aeqidans 



281 



230. Wars with the Aequians and the Volscians (486-405 B.C. ) . — 

The men of the plain had to fight continually in defence of their 
property and their lives against the hungry tribes of the hills. It 
was a long, hard struggle. Year after year the Sabines, descending 
from their mountain homes, pillaged the Roman territory. Often, 
too, the beacons, blazing on the 
ramparts of Tus'cu-lum, announced 
that the Aequians were besieging 
that city, or the smoking farmhouses 
in the distance signalled to Rome 
their story of desolation. Then 
the plebeian, quitting political 
strife in the Forum, or leaving his 
plough in the furrow, took down 
from the walls of his hut the armor 
King Servius had ordered his 
grandfather or great-grandfather to 
buy, and hastened to his place in 
the phalanx. In open field this 
army, strengthened by the allies, 
was more than a match for the un- 
organized bands of Aequians. But 
defeating highlanders seemed like 
beating the air. Light as the wind Lucius Junius brutus 
they withdrew to their homes Mythical Founder of the Republic 
^, J 1- , , (Palace of the Conservatori, Rome) 

among the crags, and as lightly 

swept down again upon the unprotected fields of the aUies. They 
seized Mount Al'gi-dus, cut the Hernicans off from the Romans, and 
raided the plain to within three miles of Rome. 

The story is told that once they entrapped a consul and his army 
in a valley. Thereupon the other consul, at the request of the senate, 
nominated Cin-cin-na^tus dictator. This was a magistrate appointed 
in time of danger to govern the state with absolute power. He com- 




282 Rome becomes Supreme {71 Italy 

manded the army, and the " master of horse " whom he chose led 
the cavalry. Now when Cincinnatus was made dictator, messengers 
bore the commission across the Tiber to his four-acre farm. Find- 
ing him in his tunic engaged in some rural work, they greeted him 
as he leaned on his spade. " Put on your toga," they said, " to hear 
the message of the senate." "Is not all well?" he asked as he 
sent his wife to the house for his gown. Then wiping the sweat and 
dust from his brow and putting on the toga, he listened to the 
message. He took command. Without delay he relieved the 
besieged army, humbled the enemy, and returned to Rome, his 
troops laden with booty. So brilliant was the victory that the senate 
granted him a triumph. A grand procession, accordingly, moved 
along the Sacred Way^ through the Forum, then up the Capitoline to 
the temple of Jupiter. In front were the captive leaders of the 
Aequians ; men followed with the standards of the enemy ; then 
came the triumphal car in which sat the general clad in splendid 
robes. Behind the car the soldiers marched carrying the booty, 
singing the hymn of triumph, while the citizens spread tables before 
their houses for the entertainment of the army. The procession 
halted before the temple, that the general might bring the chief of 
the gods an offering of gratitude for the victory. Then resigning 
his command the sixteenth day after taking it, he returned to his 
farm. Though not genuine history, the story of Cincinnatus gives 
a true picture of the simple life of those early times and of the 
triumph of a victorious general. After Cincinnatus, the Romans 
had still many years of unsuccessful war with the Aequians. 

Meantime tribes of Volscians, who lived in the mountains south- 
east of the Hernicans, descending into Latium, overran the country 
to within a few miles of Rome. At one time the mountaineers held 
nearly all Latium. But after a long struggle for existence, Rome 
and her allies began to make headway against their enemies. The 
crisis came in 431 b.c, when the Romans, in a fierce battle, stormed 

1 Map, p. 386. 



Veii 



283 



the camps of the Volscians and the Aequians on Mount Algidus. 
Henceforth the Romans steadily advanced. Before the end of the 
century they had recovered Latium (405 B.C.). Though the Aequians 
and the Volscians still gave trouble, they ceased to be dangerous. 

231. The Siege of Veii and the Sack of Rome (405-390 B.C.). — 
Toward the end of the century the Romans began war upon Vei'i, 
an Etruscan city as large 
as their own, situated 
twelve miles distant on a 
steep and strongly fortified 
height. After a long siege 
the dictator Ca-mil'lus 
took it, by digging an 
underground passage from 
his camp to the citadel. 
He permitted the soldiers 
to plunder the city, and 
sold the inhabitants into 
slavery. This conquest 
doubled the Roman ter- 
ritory, which soon after- 
ward extended on the 
north to the Ci-min'i-an 
Hill. 

In Etruria Rome first 
came into collision with 
the Gauls — tall warriors 
with fair hair and flashing eyes. Wherever they marched, " their 
harsh music and discordant clamors filled all places with a horrible 
din." More than a century before this time they had begun to cross 
the Alps and to drive the Etruscans from the Po Valley. Now they 
were invading Etruria. About eleven miles from Rome, on the Al'li-a, 
a tributary of the Tiber, they met a Roman army of forty thousand 




An Etruscan Vase 



284 Rome becomes Supreme in Italy 

men. The barbarians fought in dense masses ; their enormous swords 
cut through the heUnets and gashed the heads of the Romans. The 
men who had often faced the hill tribes in battle fled in terror from 
these gigantic northerners. Some took refuge in deserted Veii ; 
others bore news of the disaster to Rome. 

The city was in a panic ; no one thought of defending the walls. 
The soldiers and the younger senators hurried to the citadel to 
strengthen its defences. There is a story that some of the priests 
and aged senators, placing their ivory chairs in the Forum, sat clad 
in official robes awaiting their fate. As the Gauls met with no re- 
sistance at the gates, they entered the city and besieged the citadel. 
Some of them under Bren'nus, their chief, descending to the Forum, 
as we are told in the story, " wondered at the men who sat there 
silent, with all their ornaments, how they neither rose from their 
seats at the approach of the enemy, nor changed color, but sat lean- 
ing on their staffs with fearless confidence, quietly looking at one 
another. The Gauls were astonished at so strange a sight, and for 
a long time they forbore to approach and touch them, as if they 
were superior beings. But when one of them ventured to draw near 
to Pa-pir'i-us and gently stroke his long beard, Papirius struck him 
on the head with his staff, at which the barbarian drew his sword 
and slew him. Then they fell on the rest and killed them, with any 
other Romans whom they found ; and they spent many days in 
plundering the houses, after which they burned them and pulled 
them down in rage at the men on the Capitohne, who, instead of sur- 
rendering, repelled the assailants. For this reason the Gauls wreaked 
vengeance on the city, and put to death all their captives, men and 
women, old and young alike." ^ 

At length the Romans on the Capitoline, weary with continual 

watching and threatened with famine, offered Brennus a thousand 

pounds of gold if he would withdraw. It is said that the barbarian 

chief threw his sword into the scale, exclaiming, "Woe to the van- 

1 Plutarch, Camilhis, 22, 



Reform of the Arvty 285 

quished ! " and that while the parties were disputing over this in- 
creased demand, Camillus, again dictator, appeared with an army on 
the scene and drove the Gauls away without their gold. 

The people returned to the city and proceeded to clear away the 
rubbish. Each man built his hut wherever he found a convenient 
place. Within a year Rome with her narrow, crooked streets arose 
from the ashes. 

232. Camillus reforms the Army.i — In addition to founding the city anew 
Camillus began to reform the army. Before his time the soldiers served without 
pay and equipped themselves according to their means. In the war with Veii, 
however, the senate began to pay them for service, thus making possible a thor- 
ough change in the military system ; for henceforth the citizens, who had been 
accustomed to short summer campaigns, could serve the entire year, when neces- 
sary, and the poor man as well as the rich could buy a complete equipment. 
Hence the distinction of classes in the armor and in the arrangement of the 
troops gave way to a ranking according to experience.'^ The recruit entered the 
light division ; after a time he passed to the front line of the heavy infantry, 
thence to the second line, and when he became a veteran, to the third. The sol- 
diers of the first two lines, besides defensive armor, carried each two pi'la, or 
javelins, for hurling, and a sword. The veterans were armed in the same way, 
except that instead of javelins each carried a lance. 

In place of the solid phalanx, the lines of heavy-armed men were now divided 
each into ten companies, called maniples, stationed at intervals in such a way that 
the vacant spaces in a line were covered by the companies of the following line. 
Ordinarily a legion consisted of three thousand heavy-armed troops and twelve 
hundred light-armed. The number of legions varied according to the require- 
ments of war. 

As great a change took place in the cavalry. Down to the war with Veii the 
knights, whose horses were furnished by the state, and who were all or nearly all 
patricians,''' carried light arms in the early Roman fashion, and accordingly proved 
nearly useless. But in that war sons of wealthy plebeians volunteered to serve in 
the cavalry with their own horses. As the offer was accepted, they armed them- 
selves with the heavier and better Greek weapons, so that henceforth Rome had 
an efficient cavalry. There were regularly three hundred knights to a legion, as 
before. 

Camillus made but a beginning of this reform ; it required the experience of 
more than a century of warfare to bring his work to completion. 

1 § Cf 78, n. 2. 2 § 227. 8 § 222. 



286 Rome becomes Supreme in Italy 

233. The Organization of New Territory. — In the lifetime of 
Camillus the Romans were engaged in many more conflicts — with 
the Etruscans, the Volscians, and the rebeUious Latins and Herni- 
cans ; but everywhere the hero led his legions to victory. The 
government secured its advantages by forming new tribes from the 
conquered territory and by planting colonies in Etruria and in 
Latium, — for instance, Su'tri-um and Se'ti-a. A Latin colony, 
whether made up wholly of Romans or shared with the Latin and 
Hernican allies, was one which enjoyed the privileges of an old Latin 
town. That is, it was an ally of Rome. The two just mentioned 
were of this class. A Roman colony, on the other hand, was one 
composed exclusively of Romans who continued to enjoy the privi- 
leges of full citizenship in the mother city. It was usually a garrison 
established in a maritime town for the defence of the coast. The 
earliest of this kind was probably An'ti-um, founded some years after 
the time of which we are now speaking. In addition to the colonies 
there were towns termed mu-ni-cip'i-a, all possessing the Roman 
citizenship, but in varying degrees. The people of Tusculum, 
admitted to the Roman state in 381 b.c, enjoyed full citizen- 
ship and self-government ; those of Cae're, on the contrary, though 
citizens, could neither vote nor hold office at Rome, and at the 
same time their freedom was restricted by the presence of an 
officer termed prefect, sent from Rome to administer justice 
among them. As citizens they enjoyed the protection of life and 
personal liberty as well as the rights of trade and intermarriage with 
all other citizens. The system of organizing tribes, colonies, and 
raunicipia strengthened the hold of the leading city on the lands won 
in war. A great change had taken place in the relations of the aUies 
to one another. A hundred years of warfare with the mountaineers 
had so weakened the Latins and the Hernicans that they could no 
longer claim equality with Rome. She now furnished all the com- 
manders, and she claimed the lion's share of the spoils and of the 
conquered land. 



First Samiiitc War 287 

234. The First Samnite War (343-341 B.C.).— The half-century 
following the rebuilding of the city was a time of great military suc- 
cess for Rome. On every side she was victorious over her enemies, 
and either won new territory or secured more thorough control of the 
lands she had already acquired. In this period she came into con- 
tact with Samnium, the most powerful nation in the interior of the 
peninsula. For a time the two states were allies, but afterward 
quarrelled over the possession of Cap'u-a, a wealthy city of Campania. 
As the Samnites threatened to conquer Capua, this city gave itself up 
to Rome in return for protection. By accepting these terms the 
Romans brought upon themselves their first war with Samnium. 

The two nations, however evenly matched, differed in character. 
The Samnites were mountaineers, who had no cities, no wealth, no 
king or aristocracy. Poor, but brave and free, they looked greedily 
down upon the well-cultivated plains on their western border. With 
their skilful swords they hoped to win a title to these rich lands. 
They were opposed in this project by a single city, governed by an 
able, warhke aristocracy. It controlled the resources of the plain 
extending from the Ciminian forest to the Li'ris River. No other 
country in Italy was so thoroughly centralized. Its army was a 
peasant mihtia, obedient to command, brave, patient, hardy, ready 
for long marches and severe toils, rarely over-elated by success or 
cast down by misfortune. 

The Latins and the Romans entered this struggle with one soul ; it 
was a national war for home and country, for the wealth and civiliza- 
tion of the plain against encroaching barbarism. They fought there- 
fore with great spirit ; the Samnites declared that in battle they saw 
fire in the eyes of the enemy and the fury of madmen in their faces, 
— this was their apology for flight. As a result of the war the 
Romans not only retained Capua but gained control of nearly all 
Campania. 

235. The Great Latin War (340-338 B.C.). — In 341 B.C. Rome 
and Samnium suddenly made peace and alliance ; but the Latins and 



288 Rome becomes Snpreitie in Italy 

other allies of Rome continued the war. Finally the Latins, thinking 
that they were as strong as the metropolis, demanded equal represen- 
tation with the Romans in the consulship and in the senate ; in place 
of allies they wished to be Romans. Though just, the demand was 
rejected with scorn ; " a foreign consul and foreign senators sitting in 
the temple of Jupiter would be an insult to the supreme god of the 
state, as though he were taken captive by the enemy ! " ^ The Roman 
historian asserts that the gods, resenting the impudence of the Latin 
envoys, sent a thunderstorm while they were speaking, and that as 
the chief of the embassy was passing down the steps of the 
Capitoline temple, he fell forward with such violence upon a stone 
that he lost his senses. 

War followed. The Romans and the Latins were of one blood 
and speech and had long served under the same commanders. They 
had the same arms, the same military organization and discipHne. 
Rome, however, enjoyed the advantage that comes to a single city in 
opposing a loose confederacy. She brought the war to a successful 
close in one or two fierce battles and a series of sieges. She then 
dissolved the Latin League and made separate treaties with Lau-ren'- 
tum, which had remained faithful, and with Ti'bur and Prae-nes'te — 
cities too strong for her to think of subduing. A few Latin towns 
were admitted to full Roman citizenship. The other towns of Latium 
and those of Campania received the citizenship without the right to 
vote and hold office at Rome. While most of the Latin communities 
retained their local self-administration, Rome sent out prefects to 
rule those of Campania. 

236. The Second Samnite War (326-304). — For fifteen years 
there was peace between Rome and Samnium. During this time the 
Romans gained great strength by overthrowing the Latin League and 
by forming new tribes and planting fortified colonies in Latium and 
Campania. This ambitious policy made the Samnites fear for their 
own safety. Accordingly when Rome laid siege to Naples, a free 

1 Livy viii. 4 f. 



Second Samnite War 289 

Greek city of Campania, the Samnites reenforced the place. This 
unfriendly act led to the Second Samnite War. 

The fortunes of war varied. At first Rome was successful ; then 
the tide turned in favor of Samnium. In 321 B.C. Pon'ti-us, the 
Samnite leader, enticed the consuls with forty thousand men into an 
ambush at the Cau'dine Pass, in a valley of the Apennines, and com- 
pelled them to surrender. The consuls, in the name of the state, 
consented to the enemy's terms of peace; the troops, deprived of 
their arms, passed humbly under the yoke,^ after which all returned 
home but six hundred knights, who were detained as hostages. As 
the consuls retired from office, Lu'ci-us Pa-pir'i-us Cur'sor and 
Quin'tus Pub-lil'i-us Phi'lo, the two most eminent men in the state, 
were elected in their place. Under their influence the government 
rejected the treaty on the ground that it had not been ratified by the 
people, and delivered to the enemy the ex-consuls who were respon- 
sible for it. 

Perhaps the most distinguished leader of the war was Lucius 
Papirius Cur'^or^ mentioned above. "As a warrior he was worthy of 
every praise ; for he had a quick mind and marvellous physical 
strength. In speed of foot he excelled all of his age, — whence 
came the name of Cursor to his family. Much practice in eating and 
drinking, or perhaps his remarkable health, had given him an enor- 
mous appetite and digestion. Never wearied by toil and marching, 
he wore out his army, foot and horse. When once the noble strip- 
lings in his cavalry ventured to ask that, as they had behaved well, he 
would excuse them from some of their work, he replied, ' You shall 
not say that no indulgence has been granted you ; I excuse you from 
rubbing your horses' backs when you dismount.' " ^ As dictator 
he once threatened to have Fa'bi-us, his master of horse, killed 

^ A yoke was formed with three spears — two fixed upright in the earth, and 
the third placed across the top. Passing under the yoke was a sign of complete 
submission, and was, therefore, the worst disgrace which a soldier could undergo 
at the hands of an enemy. ^ Livy ix. l6. 

U 



290 Rome becomes Supreme in Italy 

for fighting contrary to orders. The fact that the officer had 
won a great victory by so doing did not excuse him in the eyes of 
this stern discipHnarian ; only the prayers of the senate and people 
saved him narrowly. Thereafter these two men could never be 
friends. 

Papirius was a model of firmness, strength, and energy. In these 
respects, as well as in his strict discipline and in his sense of responsi- 
bility and of the need of obedience, he was the ideal Roman of the 
age. 

After the disaster at the Caudine Pass, the war dragged on from 
year to year. It was the policy of Rome to settle and organize 
every foot of conquered ground, and to hem in her enemy by es- 
tablishing fortress colonies on the border. In 312 b.c. Ap'pi-us 
Clau'di-us Cae'cus, a great statesman, bound Campania fast to the 
imperial city by a military road from Rome to Capua, named after 
him the Appian Way. Roads and colonies 7vere the chief means 
by which Rome held and controlled acquired territory. 

But the feeling that Rome was bent upon conquest roused new 
enemies. First the Etruscans and the Umbrians joined Samnium , 
several lesser tribes followed; all Italy seemed aflame with war. At 
this crisis the consul Fabius, commander against the Etruscans, 
abandoning his communications, plunged boldly through the track- 
less Ciminian forest. Rome feared for her army, which had dis- 
appeared from sight ; then came the happy news that it had emerged 
beyond the forest and was plundering the rich fields of central 
Etruria. This movement, followed by a great victory of Papirius in 
Samnium, broke the coalition (309 B.C.). The consuls of succeed- 
ing years gained fresh victories, ravaged Etruria, and captured the 
strongholds of Samnium. The war ended in 304 B.C. ; though 
the Samnites had suffered great losses, they remained free, and re- 
newed the former treaty. 

237. The Third Samnite War (298-290 B.C.). — Rome contented 
herself with imposing these easy terms, as she wished to settle and 



TJiird Samnite War 



291 



to organize the territory won in the war. She aimed to cut Sam- 
nium off from Umbria and Etruria by strongly fortified Latin colo- 
nies and by military roads through central Italy. 

The work of organization might have continued for years, had not 
an unforeseen event cut it short. The whole Celtic race was in 
commotion ; hordes of these people invaded Greece, Asia Minor, 
and Italy at nearly the same time. Those who came into Italy 
swept with them the earlier Gallic settlers in the Po Valley. As 




Roman Soldiers Marching 



they invaded Etruria, the common people revolted against the 
oppressive nobles, welcomed the barbarians as their saviours, and 
gladly joined them in the war upon Rome. The Lucanians, the 
Umbrians, and some lesser tribes added their forces. The Samnitcs 
inspired and dif'ected the coalition. It was a grand democratic 
uprising against Rome, the stronghold of aristocracy. 

To hold his northern allies faithful, the Samnite commander broke 
through the Roman barrier which extended across central Italy, and 



292 Rome becomes Supreme in Italy 

reached Etruria at the head of a great army. Rome exerted her- 
self to the utmost to meet this formidable league. Never had 
Italy seen armies so great or a military spirit so stubborn as in 
this war, which was to determine the fate of the peninsula. 

The decisive battle was fought at Sen-ti'tium in Umbria (295 
B.C.). The Gallic war chariots furiously charged the Roman left 
commanded by the consul De'ci-us ; the clatter of hoofs and the 
roUing of wheels terrified the Roman horses and put even the sol- 
diers to disorderly flight. Then at the dictation of a pontiff who 
stood by his side, Decius solemnly devoted himself and the enemy 
to ruin and death : " I drive before me terror and flight, blood 
and death, the rage of the gods of heaven and hell. May the 
breath of the furies infect the foemen's arms ! May the Gauls and 
the Samnites sink with me to perdition ! " * As he said these words, 
he dashed on horseback into the thickest crowd of Gauls and per- 
ished on their spears. Though this religious act had little effect on 
the barbarians, it rallied the Romans. Strengthened by a force 
which Fabius, the other commander, sent from the right wing, they 
advanced to the attack ; their javeUns pierced the bulwark of 
Gallic shields ; the barbarians fled. At the same time Fabius de- 
feated the Samnites. By this victory Rome broke the league of 
her enemies. Deserted by their aUies, the Samnites held out reso- 
lutely for five more years. At last Man'i-us Cu'ri-us Den-ta'tus, a 
peasant who by personal merit had raised himself to the consul- 
ship, compelled them to sue for peace. They were now dependent 
allies of Rome. 

The strife between the plain and the mountains began in the wars 
with the Aequians and the Volscians as early at least as the begin- 
nings of the republic. In time it culminated in a fierce struggle 
between Rome and Samnium, which, with brief interruptions, raged 
for more than half a century. The long conflict was now ended. 
It had desolated Italy from Etruria to Lucania. Cities and villages 

1 Livy X. 28. 



PyrrJms 293 

were in ruins ; pastures and cornfields had become a lonely waste ; 
thousands of warriors had fallen in battle and thousands of men, 
women, and children once free were now slaves of the Romans. 
Civilization had triumphed, yet at a great cost ; the war whetted 
the Roman appetite for plunder and fostered slavery, the curse of 
ancient society. 

238. The War with Tarentum or War with Pyrrhus (281-272 
B.C.). — Rome next designed to win control of all southern Italy. 
She openly broke her treaty with the Tarentines, who called on 
Pyrrhus,^ king of Epeirus, for help. This king, a brilliant military 
genius, came with a small but strong body of troops who were 
skilled in the arms and tactics of the Macedonian phalanx.^ He 
first met the enemy at Her-a-cleVa (280 B.C.). Seven times the 
light battalions of Rome threw themselves against his " hedge of 
spears," only to be repulsed each time with heavy loss. Then his 
trained elephants, charging the weakened enemy, breached their 
lines like a volley of artillery. The Romans were shrinking before 
the "gray oxen," as they called these enormous beasts, when a 
sudden dash of the Thessalian horse completed their ruin. Allies 
now began to join the victorious general, who pushed on till he 
came within forty miles of Rome. So great had been his own 
losses in the recent battle, however, that he was anxious to make 
peace with the enemy, whose bravery and discipline he admired. 
Cin'e-as, his ambassador, spoke eloquently in the senate; the com- 
mons, too, preferred peace, that they might settle the lands acquired 
in the Samnite wars. But Appius Claudius Caecus, now old and 
blind, was carried on a Htter into the senate-house, to raise his voice 
against these shameful proceedings : " Let Pyrrhus return home, 
and then we may make peace with him." In these words he set 
forth the principle that thereafter Rome would take care of the in- 
terests of Italy. Failing to win his cause by eloquence or bribery, 
Cineas returned to his master with the report that the Roman senate 
1 § 162. 2 § 186. 



294 Rome becomes Supreme in Italy 

was an assembly of kings. Pyrrhus won another battle at As'cu-lum 
(279 B.C.), so dearly that he remarked to his friends, "Another such 
victory will ruin us." Then he crossed over to Sicily to aid his coun- 
trymen against the Carthaginians ; but even with his brilliant successes 
there, he failed to dislodge the enemy from the island. Returning 
with a few veterans to Italy, he was defeated at Ben-e-ven'tum (275 
B.C.), by Dentatus, and thereupon withdrew to his home. 

Pyrrhus was noble, generous, and brave. When his troops saw 
the splendid figure of their commander leading in the hottest of the 
battle, or mounted in their front on the rampart of a besieged city, 
hewing down the foe with his sword, they thought him more than 
human. But his genius was only for war ; he knew not how to com- 
plete or to organize his conquests ; he failed to attach to himself the 
peoples he had come to assist. The ease-loving Greeks of Italy and 
Sicily would have none of the discipline to which he subjected them. 
Refusing the rule of this chivalrous king and failing to unite in 
one state, they had nothing left but submission to Rome. After the 
departure of Pyrrhus Tarentum surrendered, and soon Rome became 
mistress of all Italy south of the Rubicon. 

239. The Organization of Roman Rule in Italy. — Within this ter- 
ritory were communities of every grade of privilege, ranging from 
full Roman citizenship to subjection. First there were the thirty- 
three tribes, — soon to be increased to thirty-five, — containing the 
full Roman citizens and occupying much of the country which lies 
between the Apennines and the sea and extends from Caere to 
For'mi-ae. Although these citizens generally lived on their farms or 
in villages, they had a few larger towns, which enjoyed local self- 
government. Such towns were municipia of the highest class. 
Equally privileged were the Roman colonies founded mainly on the 
coast for the protection of the seaboard. Municipia of the second 
class enjoyed self-government and citizenship, except the right to 
vote and to hold office at Rome. A third class of municipia, ruled 
by prefects sent them from Rome, were called pre'fec-tures. Com- 



Organization of Italy 



295 



munities were reduced to this class generally as a punishment for 
rebellion or for other grave misconduct. These were the various 
grades of Roman citizenship ; we shall now review the allies. 

Of the allied communities, the nearest to the Romans in race, in 



', ,_ COLONIES -« 

^7 184 ^li^.il^^ AND 

MILIIARY ROADS 

OF 

ITALY 




Longitude ^2° East from l-f' Greenwich 



ENQRAVEO BY BOflHAI it CO., 



privileges, and in friendship were the Latins. First among them 
were those which remained of the original Latin towns, as Tibur and 
Praeneste ; next the Latin colonies founded in various parts of Italy 
usually in the interior. The colonists were Romans or Romanized 



296 Rome becomes Supreme in Italy 

Latins, who prided themselves on their near relations with the mother 
city. They not only held the country about them in allegiance to 
the central government, but served at the same time as a means of 
spreading the Latin language and civilization throughout the penin- 
sula. A network of military roads connected them with one another 
and with the governing city. Inferior to the Latins were those called 
simply the Italians, as for instance the Samnites. All the allied states, 
while exempt from taxation, furnished troops for the Roman army, 
with the exception of the naval allies, who provided ships and crews. 
Rome reserved to herself the right to declare war, to make peace, 
and to coin money, while she granted to the allies the privilege of 
trading with her but generally not with one another. 

This gradation of rights gave even the lowliest community hope of 
bettering its condition ; it isolated the allies from one another and 
bound them singly to the central power. The system here described 
extended northward only to the Ae'sis River ; for the Se-no'nes, a 
tribe of Gauls occupying the Umbrian coast, now under Roman rule, 
were not allies but subjects, who paid taxes, or tribute. Indeed it 
was chiefly in opposition to the Gauls that the Italians, led by Rome, 
had come to look upon themselves as one people, — the nation of 
the gown against the nation wearing trousers. This federal system, 
based upon Italian nationality and directed by Rome, assured to the 
peninsula domestic peace and to the leading city a place among the 
great states of the world. The foremost powers of the East at this 
time were Egypt, — with which Rome allied herself in 273 B.C., — 
Macedonia, and the Seleucid empire ; of the West, Carthage and 
Rome. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Roman Legion. — Botsford, Rome, pp. 45-48; Ihne, Early Rome, 
pp. 195-197; Shuckburgh, History of Rome, pp. 214-218. 

II. The Second Samnite War. — Botsford, Rome, pp. 54-59; Siory of 
Rome, ch. iii; Shuckburgh, ch. xi; Ihne, History of Rome, Bk. III. ch. x. 
III. Pyrrhus. — Plutarch, Pyrrhus ; Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. iii. 



I 



CHAPTER IV 



THE PLEBEIANS WIN THEIR RIGHTS 

First Period of the Republic — Internal History 

240. The Magistrates. — While Rome was gaining the supremacy 
in Italy, important changes were taking place in her government. 
In 509 B.C. the monarchy gave way to 
the republic. In place of a life-long 
king two consuls (colleagues) with equal 
power were elected annually by the as- 
sembly.' As each consul had a right to 
veto any public act of the other, the two 
rulers by checking each other hindered 
their office from growing too powerful 
for the good of the state. They enjoyed 
most of the authority of the king, 
together with his trappings and his 
attendants, as the curule chair" and the 
lictors. But in capital cases the consuls 
were compelled as judges to grant an 
appeal to the assembly ; over the soldiers 
in the field, however, they exercised the 
same power as the king had possessed.^ 
The command of the army usually alternated daily. Often in 
dangerous wars or seditions this double rule was a disadvantage to the 

1 § 220. 

* Cf. § 224. The curule magistrates were those who sat in curule chairs. In 
the republican period they were the consuls, the dictator, the censors, the prae- 
tors, and the curule aediles. If a man elected to one of these offices was not 
already a noble, the position ennobled him and all his descendants; § 247. 

8 § 224. 

297 




Curule Chair and Fasces 
(Relief on a cippus, Avignon) 



298 TJie Plebeians iviu their Rights 

state. In such a case, at the request of the senate, one of the 
consuls nominated a dictator, who, placing the state under martial 
law, ruled with absolute power. He appointed a master of horse to 
command the cavalry. His term was limited to six months ; and it 
was an honor to him to bring the government safely through the 
crisis and resign his command within the fewest possible days. 

The consuls had assistants. Two quaes 'tors, appointed by them, 
kept the treasury in the temple of Saturn on the Forum. Two other 
quaestors detected crimes, and two judges of treason {du-um'vi-ri per- 
du-el-li-o'nis) tried cases of treason and other grave offences against 
the state, while a single judge sufficed for private cases. The quaestors 
served for a year ; the consuls selected judges for trials as they arose. 

The supervision of the state religion passed from the king to the 
chief pontiff. He appointed the Vestals, and the priests, including 
the "sacrificial king" (;r.v sa-cro'rnm). This priest-king now per- 
formed that part of the public worship which the king had attended to 
in person. In title the first man in the state, he was the weakest in 
real power, as he could hold no political office. 

241. The Senate and the Assemblies. — All important places of 
honor and trust — military, political, and religious — were filled by 
patricians, especially by senators. Now enlarged to three hundred 
members, the senate continued to exercise all the powers it had held 
under the king. It even gained by the downfall of the king ; for the 
consuls felt themselves under greater obligations to consult it and to 
abide by its decisions. It was composed of life members, who were 
taken from the leading families and were men of experience and 
ability. For this reason it was more influential than the consuls, who 
at the close of their year of office could be called to account for 
their administration. As the senate controlled both the magistrates 
and the assemblies, it was the chief power in the republic. 

In place of the old gathering of the curiae, a new assembly, the 
comitia cen-tii-ri-a'ta, gradually developed from the Servian army.' 

1 §§ 224, 227. 



Comitia Centiiriata 



299 



In the new comitia, accordingly, the citizens were grouped into cen- 
turies, each century with a single vote. There were in all a hundred 
and ninety-three centuries. As in the army, they were divided into 
knights and infantry ; and the infantry were subdivided into five 
classes according to the amount of their property. The centuries of 
which this assembly was composed did not necessarily contain a hun- 
dred men each, but varied in size. A century of juniors was 
larger than one composed of seniors, while that of the proletarians 
(the landless) was by far the largest of all. Meeting in the Cam 'pus 
Mar'ti-us outside the city, the assembly of centuries elected the 
magistrates, heard appeals in capital cases, voted on proposals for 
laws and for wars, and ratified the treaties made by the consuls. 



ORGANIZATION OF THE COMITIA CENTURIATA 



Juniors 
(17-46 years) 

I. Class . ■ . . . . , . .40 centuries 



II. 
III. 
IV. 

V. 



10 

14 



Seniors 
(above 46 years') 

40 centuries 
10 '• 
10 " 
10 " 

84 centuries 



Cavalry ...... 

Substitutes for the killed and wounded 
Musicians and workmen 
Proletarians ..... 



Total 



168 centuries 
18 
2 " 

4 

I " 

193 centuries 



The knights voted first, then the five classes in their order till a majority was 
reached for or against the proposition. If the knights and the highest class, who 
together formed the majority of centuries, agreed, they decided the question, so 
that the voting proceeded no further. It rarely happened that all the centuries 
were called upon to give their votes. 

The comitia curiata continued to meet to confer the imperium upon the newly 
elected magistrates and to attend to other such formalities. It had no longer a 
real authority. 



300 The Plebeians zvin their Rights 

In the earlier assembly all enjoyed an equal vote ; but the comitia 
centuriata gave more power to the wealthy and less to the poor. In 
estimating the importance of any Roman assembly, however, we must 
bear in mind that the presiding magistrate alone had the right to 
propose measures and to present candidates for election ; that he and 
those he invited monopolized the speaking ; that the common mem- 
bers had merely the right to vote. Then if the result displeased the 
magistrates or the nobles, they could annul it by having the augurs 
declare that some religious rite connected with the business had not 
been duly observed,^ or the senate could refuse its sanction. 

242. The First Secession of the Plebs (494-493 B.C.). — In most 
respects the common people lost by the overthrow of monarchy. 
The later kings had freed many of the poor from clientage* and 
had shielded them from the oppression of the nobles. But now that 
the poor no longer had a champion, the patricians began to reduce 
the small farmer to the condition of client from which the kings had 
freed him. They exacted illegal rents; arrears they regarded as 
debts bearing heavy interest. The creditor had a right to seize the 
delinquent debtor and his children, to hold them as slaves till they 
had worked off the debt, or to sell them into actual servitude to 
foreigners. A harsh creditor sometimes threw his debtors into his 
private prison and scourged them in the hope of influencing their 
kinsmen to redeem them. Livy, the historian, tells us that once " a 
certain aged man ran into the Forum with all the badges of his mis- 
eries upon him. His clothes were squalid, his pale, emaciated body 
was still more shocking, while his long beard and hair gave him a 
wild, savage look. In spite of his wretchedness, people recognized 
him as a centurion ^ and pityingly spoke of the distinctions he had 
gained in war. He himself showed a breast scarred in honorable 
batdes. When asked whence came that wretched garb and that 

1 The plebeian assembly, however, — mentioned near the end of the following 
paragraph, — was free from the auspices. 

2 § 223, compare the Attic hectemori; § 74. ^ Captain of a century; § 227. 



Tribunes of the Plebs 30 1 

ghastly appearance, he said to the crowd which had gathered about 
him, ' While I served in the Sabine War, the enemy pillaged my land, 
burned my house, and drove my cattle away. I borrowed money to 
pay my taxes ; the debt increased till it robbed me of my forefathers' 
estate, and then the mischief reached my body, for my creditor put 
me not into slavery but into a house in which he scourges and slays 
his victims.' He then showed his back disfigured by fresh blows." ' 
Though the debt came probably not from taxes, which were light in 
early times, but from the exactions of landlords, we may believe that 
Livy has given us a true picture of the miseries of the poor. The 
people revolted against such injustice ; the whole army, deserting the 
commanders, marched off in good order to a hill afterward known as 
the Sacred Mount, and threatened to found a new city there, which 
should be free from patrician control. The senate, helpless without 
the support of the plebeian army, sent them an ambassador. 

By an agreement drawn up on the Sacred Mount (493 B.C.) the 
plebeians were to have two annual officers of their own, called 
t?-il>'unes, whose persons were to be sacred, and who were to protect 
all plebeians who felt themselves mistreated or oppressed. Any per- 
son, even a consul, who injured a tribune or hindered him in the 
exercise of his duties, might be slain by any one as a man accursed. 
The law forbade the tribune to be absent from the city over night 
and compelled him to leave his door open always, that the injured 
and oppressed might find refuge with him at any hour. 

The plebeians had two other officers, named ae'diks, who assisted 
the tribunes. Meeting by curiae under the presidency of the tribunes, 
they elected their officers and passed resolutions which were binding 
only on themselves. Thus organized, they maintained the liberties 
they had and gradually gained more rights. 

243. The Progress of the Plebeians (493-471 B.C.). — The plebeians 
soon found an earnest helper in one of the patricians, Spiirius Cas- 
si'us,- the most eminent statesman of his time. While he was consul, 
1 Li\'y ii. 23. 2 g 229. 



302 The Plebeians iviii tJieir Rights 

in 486 B.C., he proposed an agrarian law, the contents of which we 
do not know. He may have wished to take some of the pubUc land 
from the rich, who were holding it, and to distribute it among the 
poor. The nobles would not permit his measure to become a law. 
They asserted that he had offered it merely to win popularity, — that 
his real object was to make himself king. When, therefore, his term 
of office expired, the quaestors prosecuted him for treason, and he 
was condemned to death. 

The fate of Cassius shows how helpless the plebeians still were, and 
how strong were their oppressors. Though the nobles could not 
control the plebeian assembly through the auspices, they with their 
clients attended the meetings to impede the business. Among these 
dependents were many who owned no land. To destroy the influence 
of the latter class, Piib-UVi-us Vo'k-tv, a tribune in 471 B.C., induced 
the senate and the assembly of centuries to pass a law which pro- 
vided that the plebeian comitia should vote by tribes, each of the 
twenty-one tribes to cast a single vote. As only landowners were 
enrolled in the tribes, the landless were excluded from the assembly. 
The newly organized gathering, called the comitia tri-duUa, had as 
yet no authority over the state, but met simply for the transaction of 
plebeian business. In the same year the number of tribunes was 
doubled, and somewhat later was increased to ten. 

244. The Struggle for Written Laws (462-452 B.C.). — Up to this 
time the laws were unwritten. The patricians, who were alone ac- 
quainted with them, handed them down orally from father to son. 
This exclusive knowledge they used for the oppression of the com- 
mons ; the patrician judge decided cases in favor of men of his own 
rank, and no plebeian could quote the law as proof of the injustice. 
In 462 B.C. Ter-en-til'i-us, a tribune, began to urge the codification 
of the laws in the interest of the common people. Though the 
patricians were successful in opposing him, the tribunes of the fol- 
lowing years, taking up his cause, carried on the struggle without 
interruption. Their aims were heartily favored by one of the 



TJie Decemvirs 



303 



patricians, Appius Claudius, a man of rare intelligence and ability. 
Under the influence of Appius and the tribunes the senate yielded, 
and sent a committee to some of the Greek states of Italy to examine 
their codes of law. It is possible that this committee went even to 
Athens to look over the laws of Solon,' some of which were still 
in force. On their return the centuries resolved that ten men 
{de-cetu'vi-ri), with the power of consuls, should be elected for 
the purpose of writing the laws, and that during their term of one 




An As 

(A bronze coin of the fourth century B.C., weighing 10'/^ oz. Front, head of Janus; 

back, prow of a galley) 

year they should have absolute control of the government ; all other 
offices, including the tribunate of the plebs, were to be suspended. 

245. The Decemvirs (251-449 B.C.). — Though plel)eians were eligi- 
ble to the new board of ten, the assembly filled it with patricians. 
The ablest and most influential of the decemvirs was Claudius ; the 
others simply carried out his plans. Before the year ended they had 
engraved ten tables of the law, which, after ratification by the senate 
and people, they set up in the Forum, where all could read them. 

As they had not finished writing the laws and as their government 
gave satisfaction to all alike, it was decided to elect decemvirs for 
the following year. On the new board w-ere Claudius and three — 

^§79- 



304 TJie Plebeians zvin their Rights 

possibly five — plebeians. Their liberal policy, and especially their 
efforts to promote manufacturing and commerce, angered the peas- 
ants and most of the patricians. As the senate and assembly refused, 
accordingly, to consider the two tables engraved in the second year, 
Claudius, with his colleagues, determined to remain in office till they 
secured the ratification ; for the constitution compelled no magistrate 
to retire against his will. Hereupon their enemies accused them of 
acting like tyrants and of attempting to maintain themselves in power 
for hfe. Inflamed by the ex-tribunes, the plebeians seceded again 
to the Sacred Mount, and thus compelled the senate to depose the 
decemvirs contrary to law. Claudius and one of his colleagues were 
thrown into prison, where they were probably murdered ; the other 
members of the board fled into exile. Then Va-le'ri-us and Ho-ra'- 
ti-us, consuls in 449 B.C., secured the ratification of the two tables. 
Intermarriage between patricians and plebeians was now prohibited 
by law, as it always had been by custom. With this exception the 
Twelve Tables equalized the private rights of all and continued to be 
the fountain of justice for centuries. As a part of their education 
thereafter Roman boys had to commit them to memory, — a text- 
book more useful than entertaining. 

246. The Laws of Valerius and Horatius (449 B.C.). — Up to this 
time the resolutions of the comitia tributa, the plebeian assembly 
of tribes, were binding on the plebs only.^ But Valerius and Hora- 
tius, who were friendly to the lower class, had a law passed which 
gave their assembly legislative power. With the previous consent of 
the senate the resolutions of the comitia tributa were henceforth to 
have the force of law for the whole people. 

It was a great gain for the tribunes, who alone had presided over 
this assembly. Soon, however, state officers began to call it for the 
election of such minor officials as the quaestors,- and occasionally for 

^ § 243- 

2 The quaestors were at first appointed hy the consuls (§ 240), but soon after 
the decemvirs they came to be elected by the tribes. 



IntermaTria^f 



305 



other business. About the same time it was agreed that the tribunes 
should place their bench at the door of the senate-house, through 
which they could listen to the proceedings within. Thereafter if the 
senate passed an act to which they had no objection, they signed it, 
thus abandoning their right to oppose it in the assembly. But if the 
consul proposed a measure which displeased them, their " Veto," 
shouted through the door, 
caused the measure to be 
dropped. This simple word 
of theirs prevailed against 
the magistrates, the senate, 
and the assemblies. With 
their power thus increased, 
the tribunes resumed the 
struggle for equality of rights. 
247. The Canuleian Law 
(445 B.C.); the Consular 
Tribunes (444-367 B.C.). — 
A few years after the con- 
sulship of Valerius and Hora- 
tius, a law of the tribune 
Can-u-lei'us permitted mar- 
riage between the two ranks. 
Those wealthy and influential plebeians who alone were in a 
position to profit by this reform looked upon intermarriage with 
the patricians as a stepping-stone to office. They reasoned 
rightly ; for immediately after the passage of the Canuleian law, 
the patricians formed a plan of admitting them to office, though 
not to the consulship.^ It was agreed that whenever the senate 
so determined, military tribunes ^ with consular power — or more 

^ Up to this time they were purely military officers appointed by the consuls. 
Six military tribunes commanded each legion. The change mentioned in the text 
consisted in the occasional election of from three to six additional " military 
tribunes with consular power" to take the place of the consuls for the year. 

X 




HOUSEHOLU Guus 
(In a house at Pompeii) 



3o6 The Plebeians %uin their Rights 

briefly, consular tribunes — should be elected for the year in 
place of consuls, and that both ranks should be alike eligible to 
the ofifice. Their reason for this arrangement is clear : the consuls 
were highly honored magistrates, who at the close of their term 
became influential members of the senate. Besides other distinc- 
tions, they and their descendants enjoyed the privilege of setting up 
in their halls waxen masks of their ancestors and of having these 
images carried in procession at their family funerals. This peculiar 
form of ancestor worship distinguished the nobles from the commons. 
In other words, the consulship ennobled forever the family of the 
occupant. Now as the consular tribunate ^ conferred no such honor, 
the patrician senate was wiUing to allow the plebeians occasionally to 
hold this ofiice. The plebeian candidates, however, were so often 
defeated that at length the leading men of the party came to regard 
the consular tribunate as a disadvantage to their cause. 

248. Other New Magistracies ; Spurius Maelius. — All the powers 
of the consuls did not pass to their substitutes, the consular tribunes ; 
for in 443 B.C. the Romans created two new patrician magistrates, the 
censors, whose chief duty was to make a register of the citizens and 
their property and to assign each man to his tribe and class, — a 
work hitherto performed by the consuls. They also let out the 
privilege of collecting the taxes to the highest bidders and attended 
to the erection of pubhc buildings. Like the consuls, they were 
chosen by the comitia centuriata, and were curule magistrates. They 
were elected at intervals, usually of five years, and were required to 
complete the census within eighteen months after their entrance into 
office. 

Soon after the institution of the censorship, there was a famine at 
Rome. On this occasion Spu'ri-us Mae'li-us, a wealthy plebeian, 
with his own money bought up grain from the neighboring states 
and distributed it free among the suffering. His generosity made 

1 With the exception of the consular tribunate, all curule offices conferred 
nobility (§ 240,^ n. 2). 



The Lmid System 307 

him so popular that he might easily have won the consular tribunate, 
had he offered himself as a candidate. The patricians, however, 
prevented this by charging him with attempting to make himself 
king ; it was with this end in view, they asserted, that he had striven 
for popularity. Though the charge was utterly groundless, the senate 
proclaimed him a traitor, whom any one might kill as a man accursed. 
Ser-vil'i-us A-ha'la, a patrician, undertook the deed. Meeting Mae- 
lius in the Forum, he called him aside under pretence of wishing to 
speak with him, and then stabbed him with a dagger. The Romans 
of after time looked upon Maelius as a despicable traitor and Servilius 
as a citizen whom all should imitate. 

Notwithstanding such misfortunes to their party, the plebeian 
leaders began to meet with greater success in theif struggle for office. 
In 421 B.C. two inilitary quaestors were instituted to attend to the 
financial business of the army.^ At the same time it was agreed that 
plebeians also should be eligible to the office of quaestor, whether 
civil or military. 

249. The Licinian-Sextian Laws (367 B.C.). — But the leaders of 
the commons desired especially to have the office of consul thrown 
open to them. Many plebeians, too, felt oppressed by debts and 
were discontented with the way in which the authorities disposed of 
most of the public land. 

When they acquired land in war, they either (i) granted a part 
forthwith to settlers, or (2) leased, or (3) sold it. To these ways of 
disposing of the land the poor did not object ; but (4) the larger 
part was left unsurveyed, and the authorities proclaimed that all who 
wished might work it on condition of handing over to the government 
a tenth of the grain and a fifth of the fruit produced each year. 
From those who kept flocks on these lands, a share of the animals, 
both oxen and sheep, was required. In spite of the liberal form of 
the proclamation, however, it is clear that the patricians and wealthy 

^ Other quaestorships were afterward instituted to manage the finances of the 
provinces (§ 273). 



308 



The Plebeians win their Rio-hts 



plebeians alone exercised the privilege of " occupying " or " possess- 
ing " portions of the unsurveyed land. They bought, sold, and 
bequeathed it till in time they came to look upon it as their own. 
Not satisfied with this advantage, a rich proprietor often ejected his 

poor neighbors from their small farms, 
which he then annexed to his estate. 
There is no wonder that the poor were 
dissatisfied with the unjust working of 
this system. 

Marcus Manlius, a noble-hearted 
patrician, tried by his private means 
to remedy the distress, and set before 
the rich an example of personal kind- 
ness and benevolence. But the trib- 
unes of the plebs prosecuted him 
for aiming to make himself king and 
had him put to death as a traitor 
(384 B.C.). They were determined 
that none but themselves should aid 
the commons and so reap the rewards 
of popularity. A few years after the 
death of Manlius, accordingly, the 
tribunes Li-cin'i-us and Sex'ti-us pro- 
posed a reform bill, which they urged 
all discontented plebeians to support. 
AN Old Shepherdess After a long struggle the bill became 

(Palace of the Conservatori, Rome; ^ law in 367 B.C. ItS provisions were 
found on the Esquiline) 

as follows : — 

(i) There shall be no more consular tribunes, and one of the two 
consuls shall henceforth be a plebeian. 

(2) Interest already paid on debts shall be deducted from the 
principal, and the balance of the debt shall be paid in three equal 
annual instalments. 




The Liciniixn-Scxtian Laios 309 

(3) No one shall occupy more than five hnndxtd jii'ge-ra^ of the 
public land. Probably provision was made for distributing the 
surplus among the poor in seven-acre lots by a committee appointed 
for the purpose. 

(4) No one shall pasture more than a hundred cattle or five hun- 
dred sheep on the public land.- 

250. The Effects of the Licinian-Sextian Law. — The second clause 
of the law was but a superficial remedy for the distress of the poor ; 
it did nothing to remove the cause of poverty. 

Licinius was himself fined somewhat later for violating the third 
clause. The last two clauses were soon allowed to become a dead 
letter, the tribunes made so little effort to enforce them. It is evi- 
dent that their sole interest was in the first clause, and that they 
added the others simply to buy support. 

The patricians were still eager to retain in their own hands as much 
authority as possible. The senate accordingly would not permit the 
first clause to go into effect till the people had consented to the insti- 
tution of three new patrician magistrates : the prae'ior,^ who was 
judge in civil cases, and two ciiride aediles, who were to supervise 
the streets and public buildings, the markets, and the public 
games. 

The opening of the consulship to plebeians gradually enlarged the 
nobility. Henceforth it consisted not only of patricians but also of all 
plebeians who were admitted to a curule office, — themselves called 

^ A jugerum is a little less than two-thirds of an acre. 

- In the course of the struggle over this law the two tribunes secured the pas- 
sage of another law which raised the number of " Keepers of the Sibylline Books " 
from two to ten and provided that five should be plebeians (cf. § 220). Admis- 
sion to this priestly college prepared the way for admission to the consulship. 

^ When, in 242 B.C., a second praetorship was instituted, the distinction first 
arose between the praetor ur-ba' nus ^nd. the praetor per-e-gri' nus. The first had 
charge of cases which concerned citizens only, while the second attended to those 
which affected an alien. Other praetorships were afterward added for the gov- 
ernment of provinces (§ 273). The office was first occupied by a plebeian in 
337 B.C. 



310 The Plebeians loiu tlieir Rights 

" new men," — together with their descendants. In other words, the 
patricians and the plebeians ceased to be the political parties ; there- 
after the parties were ( i ) the nobles, who tvere office-holders and their 
descendatits, and (2) the conunons, who were the other citizens. 

Finally the passing of the law introduced an era of good feeling, 
which Camillus commemorated by a new temple to Con-cor'di-a at 
the end of the Forum beneath the Capitoline Mount. 

Understanding that the fewer they were the more honor would be 
theirs to enjoy, the nobles strenuously opposed the admission of new 
members. They preferred to have one of their number hold the con- 
sulship four or five times, and other high ofifices in addition, rather 
than to receive new men into their privileged society. But when a 
law ^ was passed that no one should hold the same office within a 
period of ten years, or more than one office at a time, a greater 
number of new men was necessarily elected, and, in consequence, 
the nobiUty became more representative of the people as a whole. 
Before the fourth century b.c. closed, plebeians had gained admis- 
sion to all the curule offices and finally to the colleges of augurs and 
pontiffs. 

251. The Assemblies; the City Plebs. — While the leaders of the 
plebs were winning political rights, the people in their assemblies 
were striving for legal freedom fi-om the control of the senate. A 
law of Publilius Philo (339 B.C.) compelled the senators, before the 
voting began, to give their sanction to bills brought before the comi- 
tia centuriata. The Hor-ten'si-an Law of 287 b.c. made unneces- 
sary the consent of the senate to measures brought by the tribunes 
before the assembly of tribes.- Both assemblies were, therefore, con- 
stitutionally free from the control of the senate. Though one would 
naturally suppose that these acts opened the way to hasty legislation, 
such was not the case. The senate controlled the magistrates, and 
through them the assemblies. 

1 The Genucian Law, 342 B.C. 

2 Cf. § 276; Botsford, Rome, -p. 88, n. i. 



Appiiis Claudius Caecus 3 1 1 

The explanation of this fact is to be found (i) in the changed character of the 
plebeian tribunate. Though constitutionally open to all plebeians, this office had 
fallen into the hands of a few great families, who passed it down from father to 
son. As these families entered the nobility, they still held the tribunate, and 
now made it a tool of the senate. From this time the tribunes, usually young 
nobles, had seats in the senate, which employed them accordingly as ministers 
for checking other officers and for bringing measures before the people. The 
magistrates who presided over the various assemblies were usually ready to obey 
the senate ; but if any one of them dared offer a resolution which displeased the 
senate, it was generally easy to find a tribune to intercede against him and thus 
prevent the measure from being put to vote. (2) If this method failed, the senators 
might gain their point by asking the augurs to declare the omens unfavorable to 
the proposed measure, Hence it was that after losing the constitutional right to 
control the assemblies, the senate could govern them even more effectually 
through the magistrates, — especially the plebeian tribunes, — and through the 
auspices. 

Formally the government zuas now a democracy ; but in fact the 
senate, a purely aristocratic body, exercised more authority than ever 
before. 

It is important to bear in mind that those plebeians who, since the 
beginning of the repubhc, had been winning the right to place men 
of their own rank in office and to make laws in their own assembly 
were all landowners, who alone belonged originally to the tribes. 
Excluded from the tribes, and consequently from the comitia tributa, 
were the various classes of landless people : laborers for hire, tenants, 
artisans, and tradesmen. But in 312 B.C. Appius Claudius Caecus^ 
as censor enrolled these inferior citizens in the various tribes for the 
double purpose of giving them full political rights and of compelling 
them to serve in the army ; for the Second Samnite War was then at 
its crisis. It was at this time that he began the great military road 
from Rome to Capua and a splendid aqueduct, which suppHed his 
city with abundance of fresh water. These magnificent works, as 
well as his political reforms, greatly benefited the industrial and 
commercial classes. At the close of the war, however, as the govern- 
ment no longer needed the military aid of the landless, the censor 

' § 236. 



312 



The Plebeians win their Rights 



Fabiiis put them into the four city tribes, which he degraded by order- 
ing them to vote last. Thus the possessors of land remained superior 

to them in honor and in privileges. 

252. Civilization ; State Disci- 
pline. — While the Romans were 
becoming masters of Italy and im- 
proving their laws and their con- 
stitution, they were also growing 
richer. About the time of the 
decemvirs they began to coin bronze, 
and long afterward silver. The nobles reaped the profits of large 
tracts of the conquered land and acquired a great number of slaves. 





A Denarius 
(A silver coin struck soon after 286 
B.C. Front, head of Roma ; back, 
Castor and Pollux on horseback) 



H 


■ 




■j 


^H 


H 


W^ t^i^^^^H 


^H 


H 


w 


£\^ 


H 


^u 


■ i 


i'^-^k" 


^u 


H 


^si 


\Mm 


H 




N 


ImSM 


|H 


■ ^ 


wm 


F*^M 


rS 


^PV 


19 


^^^^H|^B' '--^l^^^l 


^^^^H 


^3 


1.^ 


ilRp^^9 


[^H 



^^iSCL'LAl'lUS 

(National Museum, Naples) 



Character 3 1 3 

Following the example of Appius Claudius Caecus, they began to 
expend money on useful public works and to improve the appearance 
of their city, especially by building many temples. They adopted 
several Greek deities, among them Apollo, the prophet-god ; Aphro- 
dite, goddess of love, whom they identified with their own Venus ; 
and Aes-cu-la'pi-us, god of heaHng. But they had as yet Httle 
thought of cultivating their minds. They possessed no literature, and 
with the exception of their temples, no art. 

The early Romans were distinguished for their patience and energy. 
Their virtue, the fruit of a simple life, increased in strength and in 
severity throughout the period. This growth was owing to the care 
with which the republican' government supervised the citizens. 
The magistrates had power to punish not only for crimes but for 
every offence against order, however slight, and even for immorality, 
including lazy or luxurious habits. While all officers enjoyed this 
authority, it became the especial duty of the censors to see that every 
citizen subjected himself to the severe discipline prescribed by the 
state. 

Some of the most eminent men of the age were content with the 
frugal life of the peasant. One of them, Manius Curius Dentatus,^ 
who prepared his own food in wooden dishes, insisted that seven 
iugera of land were enough for any citizen. 

253. The Effects of Discipline. — The aim of education in the 
family and in public life was to repress the freedom of the individual 
in the interest of the state, to make a nation of brave warriors and 
dutiful citizens. The highest results of this stern training were 
reached in the Samnite Wars, — a period known thereafter as the 
golden age of virtue and of heroism. A citizen of this time was, in 
the highest degree, obedient to authority, pious, frugal, and generally 
honest. But though he was willing to sacrifice his life for the good 
of the state, he was equally ready to enrich himself at the expense 
of his neighbors ; the wealthy did not hesitate to sell the poor into 

^ § 237- 



314 The Plebeians zviii their Rights 

slavery for debt, till they were forbidden to do so by law. Their 
hard, stern souls knew neither generosity nor mercy. Severe toward 
the members of their family, crnel in the treatment of slaves, and in 
their business transactions shrewd and grasping, the Romans of tiie 
time, however admirable for their heroic virtues, were narrow, harsh, 
and unlovable. Greed was one of their strongest motives to con- 
quest. Not for glory, — much less for the good of their neighbors, — 
did they extend their power over Italy ; it was rather that more of 
the peasants might be supplied with farms and that the nobles might 
be given larger tracts of the ])ublic land and a greater number of 
places of honor and profit to use and to enjoy. 

As long as they remained poor and under strict discipline, they 
were moral. In the following period they were to gain greater free- 
dom from the control of their magistrates and, at the same time, 
power and wealth. These new conditions were to put their virtue 
and even their government to the severest test. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Government of the Early Republic. — Botsfonl, Koine, pp. 66-71 ; 
Ihne, Early Rome, chs. x-xiii; yVbbott, Roman Political Institutions, pp. 24-29. 
II. The Decemvirs. — Botsford, Rome, pp. 76-79; Ihne, Early Rome, ch. 
xviii; Duruy, History of Rome, i. pp. 327-340. 

III. Marcus Manlius. — Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. iv. 



LoQgitude 10' 




THE EXPANSION 

OF THE 

ROMAN POWER 

To the lime of the Gracchi. 

SCALE OF MILES 



100 50 100 200 300 400 



For Chapeer3 V, VI. 
For Italy see Page. I 



Roman Power in 264. B. C. 
"■■^ Acquired 241-21S B. C. 

Acquired 201-133 B. C. 
*•■■• Allies of Rome in 133 B. C. 
'jl^3^-' Carthaginian Posessions 264 B. 




Messana 
(Modern Messina) 



CHAPTER V 



THE EXPANSION OF THE ROMAN POWER (264-133 B.C.) 



(Second Period of the Republic — External History) 



254. Rome and Carthage. — On the northern coast of Africa, oppo- 
site Rome, was the Punic city of Carthage.^ Not only did the 
country about it produce abundant harvests, but it was well situated 
for trade with the East and the West, and with Sicily and Italy. 
These advantages made the city wealthy and prosperous. In time it 
became, too, a political power.^ On the coasts and islands of the 
western Mediterranean Carthage built up a great empire. She was 
about to wrest all Sicily from the Greeks when Pyrrhus came as their 
champion." He tried in vain to drive her from the island. As he 
departed he is said to have exclaimed regretfully, " What a fair battle- 
field we are leaving to the Romans and the Carthaginians ! " These 
two nations were then allied against him, but he knew well that they 
would soon dispute the possession of Sicily. Quickly the Cartha- 

1 §§ 22, 116, 157-162. The adjective "Punic," which applies to Carthage, is 
derived from the Latin word for Phoenician. 

==§ii6. 35238. 

3'5 



3i6 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

giniaiis regained the whole island with the exception of the territory 
belonging to Mes-sa'na and Syracuse. If they could conquer these 
two cities, they would naturally invade Italy. Rome, the protector 
of the Italians, was anxiously watching her rival's movements. 

An Asiatic race, the Carthaginians 7vere inferioi' to the Rotnans in 
character and civilization. Their public men were corrupt ; they 
oppressed their subjects with heavy taxes, and gave them no hope 
of ever having equal rights with themselves. Their rehgion, too, was 
inhuman and immoral. Such being the case, it would have been 
unfortunate for any large part of Europe to fall permanently under 
their rule. It was the task of Rome to protect the higher and better 
civilization of Europe from this danger. 

The resources of tJie two nations were quite different. With her 
magnificent navy Carthage controlled the sea. Her wealth enabled 
her to enlist great armies of mercenaries, who however often proved 
treacherous to the city they served. Rome, on the other hand, had 
only a few ships ; but her soldiers were the hardiest and most stub- 
born fighters in the world, and, still better, they were devoted to their 
country. Nor was the government of Rome despotic like that of 
Carthage. Italy was a strong federation of kinsmen ; each city 
managed its own affairs, but all acknowledged Rome absolute mistress 
of their military resources. The struggle between the two powers 
was to be long and severe ; no one knew which would conquer. 

The immediate cause of war was as follows. Some Campanian 
mercenaries, released from the service of Syracuse, seized Messana 
(Greek Messene). They killed the men and divided the women, chil- 
dren, and property among themselves. For a time the Mam'er-tines 
("sons of Mars "),as these robbers called themselves, enjoyed their 
ill-got homes and levied tribute on many towns of Sicily ; but 
threatened by both Greeks and Carthaginians, they appealed 
to Rome for aid on the ground of kindred blood. Although 
the senate felt it would be unjust to aid the Mamertines, it feared 
that if the Carthaginians should conquer them and gain control 



I 



The First Punic War 317 

of all Sicily, they would not hesitate to lay hands on Italy. A 
less worthy motive to war was the desire of the senators to extend 
their power and with it their field for trade and speculation. The 
assembly was persuaded to vote for war, and accordingly one of the 
consuls skilfully brought an army into Messana, though the Cartha- 
ginians and Syracusans were besieging it by land and sea. 

255. The First Punic War (264-241 B.C.); Opening Events. — • 
After driving the besiegers away, the Romans made an alliance with 
Hi'e-ron, king of Syracuse. The cities of the interior readily yielded, 
as they found greater security under Rome than either Syracuse or 
Carthage had given them. To drive the Carthaginians from the 
coast towns it was necessary to build a fleet. For though the 
Greek allies of Rome could furnish a few triremes, no one in Italy 
had yet attempted quin'que-remes, — vessels with five banks of oars, 
— such as made up the strength of the enemy's navy. But using 
a stranded Carthaginian quinquereme as a model, the Romans, with 
their usual courage and energy, began to build a fleet. While some 
were busy with this work, others trained the crews by having them 
sit in benches along the shore and practise rowing in the sand. 
When they had completed their fleet, they put to sea and engaged 
the enemy off My'lae (260 b.c). Their ships were clumsy and their 
sailors awkward, but they boarded the enemy's vessels by means of 
drawbridges which they had recently invented, and thus gained the 
victory. This success increased their fervor for war. On the return 
of Du-il'i-us, the commander, Rome gave him an enthusiastic wel- 
come as her first naval hero. 

256. From the Invasion of Libya to the Defeat at Drepana (256- 
249 B.C.). — The Romans then built a fleet of three hundred and 
thirty vessels, and placing on board nearly a hundred and forty 
thousand men, they set sail for Libya. Off Ec'no-mus on the Sicilian 
coast they met and defeated a still larger fleet of the enemy, after 
which they continued on their way to Africa. There, under the con- 
sul Reg'u-lus, they gained victories and captured towns, till Xan- 



3i8 The Expansioi of tJtc Roman Power 

thip'pus, a Lacedaemonian, taught the Carthaginians to offer battle 
in the plain, where they could use their elephants and their great 
force of cavalry to advantage. The result was the destruction of 
the Roman army and the capture of Regulus. 

Other misfortunes followed ; but in 250 p..c. a great victory at 
Pa-nor'/nus gave the Romans nearly all Sicily. Under these circum- 
stances the government of Carthage sent Regulus, who was still a 
prisoner, to Rome, to arrange a peace, promising him liberty if he 
should succeed.. He, however, urged the senate to persevere in 
the war. Then returning to Carthage in accordance with his oath, 
he is said to have suffered death by torture. 

At this time the Romans were besieging Lil-y-bae'um on the west 
coast of Sicily. Farther to the north was D/rp'a-na, where Ad-her'- 
bal, a Punic admiral, was stationed with his fleet. In 249 B.C. the 
consul Publius Claudius sailed from Lilybaeum to Drepana to sur- 
prise Ad herbal. But the admiral, far from being caught napping, 
met the enemy and inflicted upon him an overwhelming defeat. 
The Romans tried to account for this disaster by a story that when 
Claudius was planning the attack, he received word that the sacred 
chickens would not eat, — an omen which signified that the gods 
forbade the enterprise. Haughtily exclaiming that if the fowls 
would not eat, at least they would have to drink, he threw them 
into the sea. His impiety together with his lack of skill is given as 
the cause of this great misfortune. 

257. Hamilcar Barca (247-241 B.C.). — While the Romans were 
besieging Lilybaeum, Carthage sent out a general who was to prove, 
in himself and in his sons, the most dangerous enemy Rome ever 
met. This was Ha-mil'car, surnamed Bar'ca (the "Lightning"), a 
man of extraordinary genius for war. He occupied Mount Erc'te, 
above Panormus, which was then held by a Roman army. On the 
top of the mountain he fed cattle and raised corn to support the 
handful of troops who performed wonders under the spell of his 
genius. From the little harbor beneath him his light ships harassed 



I 



Hmnilcar 319 

the Italian coasts, while from the eagle's perch above he used to 
swoop down, rapid as the lightning, upon the Romans in the neighbor- 
hood, and as easily retire to the nest which no enemy dared explore. 

After maintaining himself for three years in this position, he 
suddenly abandoned it for a post on the side of Mount E'ryx, where 
he could cooperate with his friends at Drepana. But with his small 
force he could accomplish little. Neither nation in fact had any 
longer the means of supporting a fleet or a strong army in service. 
Without a navy Rome could not hope to gain complete possession 
of Sicily. Under these circumstances the wealthier citizens offered 
their private means for the building of new war-ships. With two 
hundred vessels thus provided for, the consul Cat'u-lus, at the Ae- 
ga'ti-an islands, met a new Carthaginian fleet bringing supplies to 
Sicily, and totally defeated it (241 B.C.). 

As the Carthaginians could carry on the war no longer, they gave 
Hamilcar full power to make peace. He agreed that they should 
give up Sicily, pay the Romans within ten years an amount equivalent 
to three and a half millions of dollars, and release all prisoners with- 
out ransom. After continuing twenty-three years, the First Punic 
War came to an end in 241 B.C. Some years later Sicily became a 
Roman province, — that is, a subject country ruled by a Roman 
magistrate. 

258. Hamilcar in Spain (237-229 B.C.) ; Hannibal. — As Carthage 
could not pay her mercenaries for their service in the war, they 
mutinied, and were joined by the Libyans, who revolted against their 
harsh taskmasters. While the whole strength of Carthage was en- 
gaged in this war (241-237 B.C.), the Romans treacherously seized 
Sardinia ; and when she remonstrated, they imposed upon her a 
heavy fine. Sardinia together with Cor'si-ca became the second 
Roman province. 

Hamilcar's soul burned with hatred of the city which, by force 
and fraud, had robbed his fatherland of its naval supremacy and its 
fairest possessions. He began to think how he might lead an army 



320 The Expansiot of the Roman Power 

into Italy and attack Rome. But as he could not depend upon 
mercenaries, he planned to create in Spain a province which should 
supply both troops and provisions for another war. When he was 
about to set out for Spain, he is said to have led his son Han'ni-bal, 
then a boy of nine years, to the altar and made him swear undying 
enmity to Rome. Hannibal went with his father, and was true to 
his oath. 

/// Spain Hamilcar occupied nine years in forming a Carthaginian 
province more by diplomacy than by war ; he taught the native tribes 
to live together in peace under his rule and to develop the resources 
of their country. While he was engaged in this work, his skill and 
his money created a new political party at Carthage, — a vigorous 
democracy, which opposed the peace-loving cai)italists and supported 
its leader in his for-reaching plans for war. " Then he died in a 
manner worthy of his great achievements ; for he lost his life in 
a battle in which he showed a conspicuous and even reckless bra- 
very. As his successor, the Carthaginians appointed his son-in-law 
Has'drubal." ^ 

Hasdrubal continued the wise policy of his predecessor with won- 
derful skill in gaining over the tribes and in adding them to his 
empire. When after eight years of such service he was murdered 
by a Celt, the soldiers with loud enthusiasm carried Hannibal to 
the general's tent and proclaimed him commander (221 B.C.). As 
they looked upon this young man, " the veterans imagined that 
Hamilcar in his youth was restored to them ; they noticed the same 
vigor in his frame, the same animation in his eyes, the same features 
and expression of the face. . . . His courage in meeting dangers 
and his prudence in the midst of them were extreme. Toil could 
neither exhaust his body nor subdue bis mind, and he could endure 
hunger and cold alike. He ate and drank no more than nature 
demanded. Working day and night, he thought of sleep only when 
there was nothing else to do ; then wrapping himself in his military 

^ Polybius ii. I. 



IMl 



Hannibal 



321 



cloak, he would lie on the ground among the watches and the outposts 
of the army. Though he dressed as a plain officer, his arms and his 
horses were splendid."^ 

259. The Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.); Invasion of Italy 
(218 B.C.), — When Hannibal felt himself prepared, he attacked Sa- 
gun'tum, a city of Spain in alliance with Rome, and took it after a 
siege of eight months. This act gave the Romans a pretext for war. 
But while they were 
preparing to invade 
both Spain and Libya, 
Hannibal, with a well- 
trained army of fifty 
thousand infantry, nine 
thousand cavalry, and 
a number of elephants, 
crossed the Pyrenees 
and marched rapidly 
through Gaul. Re- 
cently the Romans had 
conquered the Celts 
of northern Italy. As 
this whole nation was 
indignant with Rome 
on account of injuries 
received, they eagerly 
supported Hannibal in 
his march through their 
country. It was not till the crossing of the Rhone that he met with 
opposition from the natives. When, however, he began the ascent 
of the Alps the real difficulties of his journey appeared ; for the way 
was narrow and rough, and the mountaineers attacked him. From 
the higher ground, which secured their own safety, they rolled stones 

^ Livy xxi. 4. 
V 




" Hannibal " 
(National Museum, Naples) 



322 The Expansioji of the Roman Poiver 

and hurled missiles upon the troops and upon the long train of pack 
animals. Many soldiers fell, and many beasts of burden were either 
disabled or lost, so that the army suffered for want of provisions. At 
length with great toil and peril Hannibal reached the summit, where 
he rested his men and cheered them with some such words as these : 
" Here on the summit of the Alps, we hold the citadel of Italy ; below 
us on the south are our friends, the Gauls, who will supply us with 
provisions from their bountiful lands and will help us against their 
foes ; and yonder in the distance lies Rome ! " 

But when he reached the plain below, he had less than half the 
army with which he had set out from Spain. And those who sur- 
vived were worn out with fatigue, hunger, and exposure to the cold. 
Their horses were lame, their clothes in tatters ; they seemed more 
like savages than well-disciplined troops. With such forces he had 
come to attack a nation which numbered seven hundred thousand 
men of military age. And yet it was to be no one-sided contest. 
An army of trained soldiers, full of the spirit of their great commander, 
opposed a raw militia. A born genius for war, Hannibal had served an 
apprenticeship under his illustrious father ; as general he had subdued, 
fierce tribes of Spaniards and Gauls and had overcome the Alps 
themselves. Compared with him, though he was still young, the 
ablest Roman generals were tyros. 

260. The Battle of the Ticinus and of the Trebia (218 B.C.).— 
The Romans, who had been dreaming of conquests, were astonished 
to hear that Hannibal was in the valley of the Po. He soon made 
them feel that the fight was to be for their homes and their country. 
In a light cavalry battle on the Ti-ci'ni/s, a tributary of the Po, he 
easily routed the consul Scip'i-o. Discovering that the Punic horse- 
men were far superior to his own, Scipio withdrew to the south bank 
of the Po, and sought the protection of the hills near the Treb'i-a 
River. Here his colleague, Sem-pro'ni-us, with another army, joined 
him and took chief command ; for Scipio had been wounded in the 
battle. 



Victories of Hannibal 323 

One stormy morning in December, Hannibal, after giving his men 
a good breakfast and plenty of oil for their bodies, sent out a band 
of cavalry to tempt the enemy across the river. Sempronius, who 
was eager for battle, that he might win for himself the glory of victory, 
readily led his army out before breakfast through the swollen Trebia. 
Hungry and numbed with cold, the Romans were doomed to de- 
feat. The Carthaginian horse routed their wings, while Hannibal's 
brother Mago, an impetuous fighter, assailed them from an ambush in 
the rear. The struggle, though long, ended in the complete over- 
throw of the Romans. Ten thousand of their best infantry fought 
their way through the enemy and escaped. Nearly all the rest were 
killed or captured, and Hannibal held their camp. This great suc- 
cess led the Gauls, who had hitherto wavered, to cast their lot with 
the victor. 

News of the misfortune depressed Rome. Throughout the winter 
the citizens could talk of nothing but evil omens. Meanwhile the 
government was preparing to resist the invader. One of the consuls, 
Gaius Fla-min'i-us, a great favorite of the people and an enemy of the 
senate, posted himself with an army at Ar-re'ti-um in Etruria. Ser- 
vil'i-us, the patrician consul, took command of another army at A-rim'i- 
num. Thus the consuls lay, each with his army, guarding the two 
principal roads which connected the Po Valley with central Italy. 

261. The Battle of Lake Trasimene; Hannibal and Fabius (217 
B.C.). — But Hannibal surprised them by taking an unusual route over 
the Apennines far to the west. In crossing the marshes north of 
the Ar'nus River, his troops suffered terrible hardships. For four 
days and three nights they waded continually through mud and water. 
Wlien at length Hannibal reached dry ground in Etruria and found 
Flaminius still guarding Arretium, he passed the enemy without notic- 
ing him, and took the highway for Rome, plundering as he went. 
Flaminius could but follow ; for he felt he must gain a victory to bring 
success to his political party in its conflict with the senate. Unwarily 
he fell into a trap at Lake Tras'i-mene, where he was killed and his 



324 The Expansion of the Roman Poiver 

army annihilated. Wlien news of this calamity reached Rome, and 
the praetor announced to the people, " We have been beaten in a 
great battle," the Romans, long unused to misfortune, gave way to 
unmanly grief and alarm. With the advice of the senate, however, 
they elected Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator ; for the surviving con- 
sul was too far away to make the appointment, according to custom. 

Instead of attacking Rome, Hannibal crossed the peninsula to the 
Adriatic coast and moved gradually southward, gathering vast booty 
from the country through which he passed. Fabius would not risk 
a battle, but dogged the footsteps of the invader, cut off foraging 
parties, and trained his own men to face the enemy in light engage- 
ments. As this policy did not prevent the Carthaginians from march- 
ing and plundering wherever they pleased, it proved extremely 
unpopular and brought the severest criticism upon the dictator. Yet 
his persistence in avoiding battle saved Rome for the year from 
another defeat. 

262. The Battle of Cannae (216 B.C.). — Unusual efforts were 
made to levy and train troops for the following summer. The new 
consuls, Ae-mil'i-us and Var'ro,^ led a force of more than eighty thou- 
sand men, including allies, against Hannibal. This was the largest 
single army Rome had ever put into the field, while the force of the 
enemy numbered about fifty thousand. The two armies met at Can'- 
nae on the Au'fi-dus River in Apulia. Varro, who held chief com- 
mand on the day of battle, massed his maniples - in a heavy line, in 
the hope of overcoming by sheer weight. While the superior cavalry 
of the enemy routed his wings, his centre, a solid phalanx, drove in 
the opposing Iberians and Celts, but then found itself assailed on 
all sides, — Gauls and Iberians in front, with a violent wind driving 
clouds of dust in the face, veteran Libyans on both flanks, and in the 
rear a tempest of cavalry. Too crowded to keep rank or even to 
use their weapons, the Romans fell like sheep under the knives of 
butchers. Seven-eighths of their army, including Aemilius, eighty 
1 § 277. 2 § 232. 



Changed Character of the War 325 

senators, and many other eminent men, perished. Varro, who 
survived, collected the remnants of the army, amounting to scarcely 
ten thousand men. 

News of this defeat brought intense agony to Rome. Every house- 
hold mourned its dead, while all feared for the city and for their 
own lives. But the senate met the crisis in a manly spirit. It en- 
couraged the people, posted guards about the city, and did every- 
thing possible to save the state. 

On the evening after the battle Ma-har'bal, leader of the Punic 
horsemen, said to his commander, " Send me in advance with the 
cavalry, follow with the army, and five days hence we shall dine in 
Rome ! " Hannibal knew, however, that with his present force he 
could take Rome neither by storm nor by siege ; but through the 
revolt of the aUies he hoped to cause the ruin of the capital. 

263. Changed Character of the War. — With the battle of Cannae 
the character of the war changed. Nearly all the allies of Rome in 
southern Italy, including the great cities of Capua and Tarentum, 
revolted. On the death of Hieron,^ king of Syracuse, Sicily also for- 
sook Rome. Philip V,- king of Macedon, who watched jealously the 
interference of the senate in the Greek peninsula, allied himself with 
the victorious Carthaginian. Though none of these allies gave mate- 
rial help, Hannibal felt himself bound to protect his Italian friends. 
The policy of defence to which he was thus forced gradually wasted 
his army, robbed him of the prestige of success, and in the end 
caused his failure. The greatest of all obstacles in his way were 
the fortified Latin colonies distributed over Italy, which continued 
faithful to Rome. These strongholds he was unable to take. The 
Romans, on the other side, following the policy of Fabius, ventured 
no more pitched battles with Hannibal in Italy. 

But they made great efforts to regain Sicily. After a long siege 
Marcellus took Syracuse. His soldiers plundered it and killed many 
of the people, including Ar-chi-me'des, a famous mathematician 
1 § 255. 2 §§ 202, 266. 



326 



The Expansion of tlie Roman Power 



whose engines had been used in the defence of the city. Next 
the Romans surrounded Capua with three armies. In the hope 
of diverting a part of this force, so as to reHeve the besieged 

alHes, Hannibal suddenly 
marched upon Rome and 
pitched his camp three 
miles from the city. 
The inhabitants imagined 
that their terrible enemy 
had destroyed the armies 
at Capua and would 
soon hold the citadel of 
Rome. Fortunately new 
recruits poured in from 
the country to man the 
walls. As Rome defended 
herself without relaxing 
the siege of Capua, Han- 
nibal gave up hope of 
saving this city. When 
it fell, the Romans 
scourged and beheaded 
the senators, and dis- 
persed the people among 
the Latin colonies or sold them into slavery, — a warning to all who 
meditated revolt. Tarentum was afterward taken and suffered a 
similar punishment. 

264. The Scipios in Spain ; the Battle of the Metaurus (207 B.C.); 
— Meantime important events were happening in Spain. For years 
Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal who had been left in command 
of that country, proved inferior to the Romans under the brothers 
Publius and Gnae'us Scipio. At length, however, with reenforce- 
ments from Carthage, he overwhelmed and destroyed the separate 




Makckllus' 



The Ci'isis 327 

armies of these two generals, who died bravely with their men. The 
victor was in a fair way to win all Spain back to Carthage when the 
Romans sent thither as proconsuP Publius Scipio, son of the deceased 
general of the same name. The new commander, though still in his 
twenties, showed real genius for war. Soon after his arrival he sur- 
prised and captured New Carthage, the chief city and arsenal of the 
enemy in Spain. Hasdrubal, however, skilfully eluded him, and with 
a large army and abundant treasures set out by land for Italy to 
reenforce his brother. 

The crisis of the war came in 207 B.C., when Hasdrubal, descend- 
ing from the Alps and drawing in his train a host of Gauls and Ligu- 
rians, marched southward to meet Hannibal. If the two great 
enemies of Rome should unite, she could no longer hope for vic- 
tory ; for her country was desolate from end to end ; her faithful 
colonies, exhausted by war, were beginning to refuse aid ; her last 
armies were in the field. Fortunately for her the messengers who bore 
to Hannibal the news of his brother's coming were taken by the con- 
sul Gaius Claudius Nero, commander of the army in southern Italy, 
opposed to Hannibal. Stealthily hurrying to the north, Claudius 
united his army with that of his colleague, Marcus Liv'i-us Sal-i-na'- 
tor ; and the two consuls surprised and destroyed Hasdrubal with his 
army on the Me-tau'rus River. As Claudius returned southward he 
carried with him the head of the defeated Carthaginian, which he 
directed to be thrown into the camp of Hannibal, — to inform him 
of his misfortune. In the ghastly features of his brother, Hannibal 
read his own fate and the doom of his city. 

After this battle, while Hannibal still maintained himself in southern 
Italy, Publius Scipio reconquered Spain. The story of this campaign 
abounds in the romantic adventures and the chivalrous acts of the com- 
mander, — the first Roman whom we may admire both for the kind- 
ness and generosity of his character and for the brilliancy of his mind. 

1 An officer who held the rank and power of a consul outside of Rome. The 
first proconsul was appointed in 326 B.C. 



328 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

265. The Battle of Zama (202 B.C.); the End of the War (201 B.C.). 
— Master of Spain, he returned to Rome, whence as consul he in- 
vaded Africa and threatened Carthage. Hannibal quitted Italy in 
obedience to his country's call ; and adding raw recruits to his small 
veteran force, he met Scipio at some distance from Za'ma, a town 
nearly south of Carthage. Here was fought the last battle of the 
long war. By a happy inspiration, Scipio placed the maniples of 
the second and third divisions behind those of the first, thus forming 
columns with open lanes between, through which the enemy's 
elephants could make their way without disturbing the ranks. ^ For 
the first time Hannibal suffered defeat in a pitched battle, — a defeat 
which made further resistance hopeless. 

By the terms of treaty which followed, Carthage agreed to surrender 
Spain, and to pay Rome two hundred talents- of silver a year for 
fifty years ; to give up all her elephants and all her war-ships except 
ten triremes ; to wage no war outside of Libya, and in Libya none 
without the consent of Rome. With sorrow the Queen of the Waters 
saw her great fleet sink in flames. Even more galling was the clause 
of the treaty which forbade her waging war in Libya ; for it left her 
helpless against Rome's ally, Mas-i-nis'sa, king of Numidia, who 
plundered Carthaginian territory to the extent of his pleasure. Such 
was Rome's policy toward a fallen enemy. 

266. The First and Second Macedonian Wars (215-205. 200- 
196 B.C.). — After the Second Punic War the Romans began to 
interfere seriously in the affairs of Greece. 

They had already carried on two short wars with the Il-lyr'i-an 
pirates, in the course of which they had taken a few Greek cities 
into their alliance. It was these dealings with Greece which induced 
Philip V of Macedon^ to cast his lot with Hannibal after the battle 
of Cannae. This first conflict with Macedon (215-205 b.c.) brought 
Rome into alliance with Aetolia, Athens, and other important states 
of Greece. 

1 § 232. 2§ii9^n. 2. M 263. 



m 



Macedonian Wars 329 

No sooner was the Roman senate free from the struggle with 
Carthage than it forced upon the people a second war with Philip in 
behalf of the allies whom he was assailing. The consul Flam-i-ni'- 
nus led against him a strong army of twenty-five thousand men. 
Though Philip had about the same number, most of his troops were 
boys. The whole civiHzed world was interested in the conflict be- 
tween the legion and the phalanx. On level ground the phalanx, a 
massive body, was unconquerable, but among the hills it could be 
easily broken. The legion, on the contrary, was light and flexible, 
developed especially with a view to fighting the mountaineers of 
central Italy. At Cyn-os-ceph'a-lae (" Dogs' Heads"), a low range 
of hills in Thessaly, the armies met, and after a sharp struggle the 
legion was victorious (197 B.C.). The success of Rome was due 
to her military organization, to the poor quality of the opposing 
troops, and above all, to the superior Aetolian cavalry in her service. 

The king was compelled to cede his various Greek possessions to 
the victor. But as the Roman commons disliked to extend their 
empire to the East, the senate decided to be generous. Accord- 
ingly at the Isthmian festival of the following spring, by the direction 
of Flamininus and his colleagues, who were peace commissioners, 
a herald proclaimed to the assembly the freedom of all the Greeks 
who had been ruled by Philip. " After the games were over, in the 
extravagance of their joy, they nearly killed Flamininus by the exhi- 
bition of their gratitude. Some wanted to look him in the face and 
call him their preserver; others were eager to touch his hand. Most 
threw garlands and fillets upon him ; and among them they nearly 
crushed him to death." ^ Though Flamininus wished well for Greece, 
his gift of freedom was a fair delusion. The Greeks still had many 
noble qualities ; but they could not keep peace among themselves — 
the only guaranty of their freedom. As their protector and peace- 
maker, Rome could hardly avoid depriving them of their liberty. 

267. The Asiatic War (192-189 B.C.). — The great power of the 
^ Polybius xviii. 46. 



330 TJie Expansion of the Roman Power 

East at this time was the empire of the Seleucidae,^ now ruled by 
An-ti'o-chus III. It included nearly all that part of the former Per- 
sian empire which lay in Asia and Asia Minor. To prevent Rome 
from gaining further influence in the East, Antiochus invaded Greece, 
and in his turn played the game of freeing that country. He had 
been encouraged to war by Hannibal, whom the Roman senate had 
forced into exile, and who was now at the court of the Seleucid king. 
Jealousy and littleness of mind prevented Antiochus from intrusting 
the command of the army to Hannibal. Driven from Europe, the 
king suffered an overwhelming defeat at Mag-ne'sia, in Asia Minor, 
at the hands of Lucius Scipio, brother of Africanus (190 B.C.). As 
a result of this unsuccessful war, he gave up all his possessions west 
of Mount Taurus. Rome left the states of Asia Minor independent 
under her protectorate. Hannibal fled to Bi-thyn'ia, where he died 
by poison to escape the Romans. Antiochus was stoned to death 
by his own people ; and his great empire rapidly dwindled to the 
petty kingdom of Syria.- 

268. The Condition of Greece ; the Third Macedonian War (171- 
167 B.C.)- — Meantime the states of Greece constantly accused one 
another before the Roman senate, and constantly invited that body 
to settle their quarrels. Accordingly we find one committee of the 
senate after another coming to Greece to arbitrate disputes and to 
look after the interests of the republic. Their respect for Greek 
culture, however, did not prevent them from fostering disunion,— 
from undermining the Achaean League.'' To rid themselves of a 
troublesome Hellenic patriot, these "lovers of Greece" sometimes 
resorted even to assassination. 

Such was the state of affairs when Philip died and was succeeded 
by his son Per'seus. More amiable, though less able, than his father, 
he cherished the noble ambition of championing Hellas against 
barbarian Rome. His clever diplomacy and the desire of the 
Greeks for independence were rapidly bringing them into touch 
1 § 199- 2 § 294- ^ § 201. 



End of Greek Freedom 331 

with Macedon, when Rome, to prevent this dreaded union, declared 
war against Perseus (171 B.C.)- 

The principal commander on the Roman side was Lucius Aemilius 
Pau'lus/ a man of rare honesty and ability. He met and conquered 
Perseus at Fyd'tia, a city of Macedon (168 B.C.). "Aemilius had 
never seen a phalanx till he saw it in the army of Perseus on 
this occasion ; and he often admitted to his friends at Rome 
afterward that he had never beheld anything more alarming and 
terrible ; and yet he, as often as any man, had been not only a 
spectator but an actor in many battles."- The king escaped, but 
was taken later, and after following, with his young children, in the 
triumphal procession of the conqueror, he died in prison, either by 
his own hand or by the cruelty of the jailer. At the close of the 
war the Romans imposed an annual tribute on the Illyrians for 
having aided Perseus.^ Macedon they divided into four republics, 
which they prohibited from all intercourse with one another. Thus 
a great state perished. The cities yielded to the victor shiploads of 
furniture, precious metals, and works of art. In addition, the troops 
plundered Epeirus for siding with the king ; they carried thence vast 
spoil and a hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, who were sold 
into slavery. Nevertheless they grumbled at their commander for 
allowing them so little. 

269. The End of Greek Freedom (146 B.C.). — For Greece there 
was to be no more freedom. Those who sympathized with Perseus 
in the war were sent to Rome for trial. Among them were a thou- 

- Son of Aemilius, who died at Cannse (§ 262). 

2 Polybius xxix. 17. 

^ Trouble with the Illyrians began long before. In 229-228 B.C. Rome pun- 
ished them for piracy, and compelled them to keep their hands off Corcyra and 
Epidamnus. Rome's treaties with these two Hellenic states were her first diplo- 
matic dealings with Greece. In 219 B.C. she waged a second war with the Illy- 
rians in behalf of her Greek allies, who were already increasing in number. But 
it was not till this piratical nation had cast its lot with Perseus that the Romans 
determined to annex it, and even then (167 B.C.) they did not organize it as a 
province; § 272, n. i. 



<• 



332 The Expansion of the Roman Power 

sand men from the Achaean Leagvie alone, includuig Po-lyb'i-us, the 
statesman and historian. Far from being given a trial, however, 
they were detained sixteen years among the towns of Etruria. The 
influence of Polybius procured the release of the three hundred who 
then remained. 

When these exiles returned home they excited their whole nation 
against the city which had treated them so unjustly. At the same 
time the Greeks were again quarrelling among themselves, and a 
rebellion was breaking out in Macedon. These circumstances led 
the senate again to interfere, Me-tel'lus united the Macedonian 
republics in the province of Mac-e-do^ni-a. Mum'mi-us defeated 
the Achaean army. He then entered Corinth, the chief offender, 
killed most of the men he found, and enslaved the women and 
children. After plundering the city, he burned it to the ground. 
At last the Greeks realized that though they retained the form of 
liberty, the Roman senate was their master. It ruled them mainly 
through the governor of Macedonia. Politically they were dead ; 
their dissensions had ruined them. If the Romans should govern 
them well, they would thereby justify the conquest. 

270. The Third Punic War (149-146 B.C.). — In the same year 
the Romans destroyed Carthage. For the beginning of the trouble 
which led to this event we must go back to the close of the Second 
Punic War. The treaty with Hannibal had forbidden Carthage, 
without the consent of Rome, to defend herself against attack. 
Taking advantage of this condition, Masinissa,^ king of Numidia, an 
ally of Rome, continually plundered the territory of Carthage and 
seized some of her best lands. In answer to her complaints Rome 
sent out various commissioners, who in every case were instructed to 
give secret encouragement to the plunderer. As a member of such 
a commission, Cato, a narrow-minded statesman, of whom we shall 
hear more, brought home a startling report of the wealth and pros- 
perity of Carthage. In his opinion the city of Hannibal still menaced 

1 § 265. 



CartJiage Destroyed 



333 



Rome. Indeed he is said to have ended every speech in the senate, 
whatever the subject, with the words, " Carthage must be destroyed ! " 
He easily convinced the capitalists, who wished for a monopoly of 
the world's commerce, and who formed a majority of the senate. 
Accordingly the consuls sailed for U'ti-ca with an immense army. 
To avoid war the Carthaginians were ready for every concession. 
First they handed over three hundred children as hostages. The 
mothers, who gave them up, " clung to the little ones with frantic 








Storming a City 

cries and seized hold of the ships and of the officers who were 
taking them away." ^ " If you sincerely desire peace," said the con- 
suls on their arrival at Utica, " why do you need arms ? Surrender 
them ! " After vain protests the people gave up their armor. " We 
congratulate you on your promptness," the consuls continued ; "now 
yield Carthage to us and settle whenever you like within your own 
land, ten miles from the sea ; for we are resolved to destroy your 

city." 

^ Appian, foreign Wars, viii. 77. 



334 "^^^ Expansion of the Roman Power 

At first the people were overcome with grief; but finally they 
resolved to defend their city to the last drop of blood. As they had 
to make new weapons, they converted even the temples into work- 
shops, and the women gave their hair for bowstrings. They gallantly 
repulsed the attacks of the consuls, and for three years defended 
themselves like heroes. At last Scipio Ae-mil-i-a'nus^ forced a pas- 
sage through the walls. His soldiers massacred the inhabitants, then 
plundered and burned the city. After they had destroyed this 
innocent people, the authorities of Rome cursed the ground on which 
the city stood, that it might never be rebuilt. The territory it ruled 
they made into the province of Africa. 

271. Ligurian, Gallic, and Spanish Wars. — The story of the con- 
quest of (ireece and Carthage, just told, illustrates the character of 
Roman warfare during the half-century which followed the peace 
with Hannibal. In the same period, wars with the Ligurians and the 
rebellious Celts of northern Italy ended in the thorough conquest of 
Cis-al'pine- Gaul. Spain, subdued in the Second Punic War, was 
made into two provinces. But the people of this country so loved 
liberty and were so obstinate that the Romans had to reconquer them 
several times. While doing so, they showed themselves false and 
cruel : they violated treaties, and massacred troops who had sur- 
rendered under agreement. The siege of Nu-man'ti-a, a rebellious 
town of Spain, was a repetition of the siege of Carthage, — it revealed 
the immoraUty of the common soldiers, the baseness of the generals, 
and still worse, the alarming degradation of the senate. Scipio, the 
destroyer of Carthage, had the honor of stamping out this rebellion 
(133 B.C.). 

272. Summary. — In these conquests the chief motive of the 
citizen-soldiers was a desire for lands and booty ; the object of the 

• 

1 Son of Aemilius Paulus (§ 268), but adopted into the family of the Scipios, 

2 The prefix cis- means " on this side of." Naturally the Romans thought 
of Gaul south of the Alps as Cisalpine, whereas the country of the Gauls on the 
opposite side of the Alps they termed Transalpine. 



» Summary 335 

nobles was power and wealth. The senate, which guided Rome's 
foreign policy, was not only clever but in some degree just and 
liberal. It rewarded faithful friends, however feeble they might be. 
At the same time it bestowed favors upon the strong, whether deserv- 
ing or not, while it wreaked merciless vengeance upon those who 
were at once erring and weak. Often by dividing the strong and by 
sowing quarrels, it broke the power of enemies and prepared the 
way to easy victory. 

The Romans now ruled most of the territory along the Mediter- 
ranean between Mount Taurus and the Pillars of Hercules. They had 
seven, or possibly nine, provinces^ under governors sent from the 
capital, many subject states, and many allies in various stages of 
dependency. Less than a century and a half had elapsed since 
Rome, as the head of Italy, entered on her career of foreign conquest ; 
outside of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, she had acquired all this 
power in a lifetime. Within another century and a half, she will 
round out her empire so as to include all the countries which 
surround the Mediterranean. But these two cycles of conquest 
bring with them momentous changes in the character of her govern- 
ment and in the condition of her citizens. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Hamilcar. — Smith, Rome and Carthage, pp. 84-108; Morris, Ha^mibal, 
pp. 69-98. 

II. Hannibal's March from Spain to Italy. — Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. 
v; Smith, Rome and Carthage, pp. 1 14-126; Morris, Hannibal, pp. 99-116. 

III. Scipio Aemilianus (the destroyer of Carthage), his Character and 
Achievements. — See Indices of the various histories of Rome; also the Index 
of Polybius; cf. Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. v. 

1 Cisalpine Gaul, conquered in 191, may not have been organized as a province 
before 81 B.C. Illyricum, on the opposite coast of the Adriatic, was subdued in 
167 B.C., and became a province at some unknown time afterward. The province 
of Asia — in western Asia Minor — was formed in 133 B.C. The other provinces, 
already mentioned in the text, were Sicily and Sardinia with Corsica (227 B.C.), the 
two Spains (197 B.C.), and Africa and Macedonia (146 B.C.); §§257, 258,271. 




A STRKEI' I.N FOMl'Ell 

(Present appearance) 

CHAPTER VI 

THE GROWTH OF PLUTOCRACY (264-133 B.C.) 
Second Period of the Republic — Internal History 

273. The Expansion of Rome; the Province. — As long as a city- 
state, like Rome, remained so small that all the citizens could attend 
the assembly and take part in public affairs, the government worked 
well. But when the state outgrew these limits, the citizens who were 
near at hand managed the government in their own interest to the 
injury of those who were farther away. For this reason the more 
territory Rome acquired, the more unjust and oppressive became her 
government. 

Her early supremacy in Italy was on the whole fair and just ; the 
Italians were her allies, and while she insisted on having their sup- 
port in her wars, she permitted most of the communities to manage 
their own local affairs. 

336 



The Province 



337 



But when the Romans acquired their first territory outside of Italy, 
they made it into a province.' Some years after the First Punic War 
the senate made a province of Sicily and another of Sardinia and 
Corsica, Later it added Hither and Farther Spain, Macedonia, 
Africa, and Asia, thus building up a great emph-e? After creating 
four praetors as governors of provinces, in addition to the two who 
attended to jurisdic- 
tion at home," it 
filled the remaining 
governorships with 
proconsuls and pro- 
praetors.'' During 
his year of com- 
mand the governor 
had absolute author- 
ity. He was at 
once general, judge, 
and chief executive, 
and through his 
quaestor^ he con- 
trolled the finances 
of his province. His 
subjects paid an 
annual tribute, but 
had not the right to 
enter the army, for 
military service would have given them not only an independent 
spirit but also a means of regaining their freedom. 

274. The Character of Roman Rule — Some advantages came to 

1 § 257. 2 § 272, n. I. 8 § 250, n. 3. 

* A proconsul or propraetor was an officer who held the power of a consul or 
praetor in some special command outside of Rome. As a rule consuls and prse- 
tors, at the close of their terms, became proconsuls and propraetors; § 264, n. i. 

« § 248. 

z 




A Proconsul 
(National Museum, Naples; from Pompeii) 



338 The Growth of Plutocracy 

the provinces from Roman rule. Usually they enjoyed peace. The 
cities of a province retained their own laws and self-government in 
local affairs. The less civilized subjects, too, profited greatly by 
adopting the customs and ideas of their masters. 

In spite of these advantages their condition was anything but happy. 
With rare exceptions Rome forbade commercial intercourse among 
the cities of a province, and even restricted trade between one prov- 
ince and another. The object of the senate in imposing these 
restrictions was to place the commerce and industry of the empire in 
the hands of the Romans themselves. By impoverishing all but the 
favored few, this policy gradually sapped the life-blood of the 
wretched subjects. In place of native merchants a horde of greedy 
money-lenders, speculators, and traders poured from the capital over 
all the provinces ; and while their citizenship ^ at Rome protected 
them, they unjustly acquired most of the property in the subject 
countries and reduced the people to debt and misery. Driving the 
peasants from their farms, these speculators built up vast estates 
worked by slaves. The system, too, which Rome followed of letting 
out the collection of taxes to contractors, was full of evil. The 
knights, ■ whose wealth enabled them to take these contracts, com- 
pelled the provincials to pay many times their due. 

Rarely did a governor try to check these wrongs. As a rule he was 
himself cruel and oppressive. Not content with the wealth of his 
subjects, a rapacious governor seized their works of art, including the 
statues of the gods they worshipped, and even sold many freemen 
into slavery. The rapid change of officers increased the evil. In his 
short term the governor expected to make three fortunes : the first, 
to pay the debts he had contracted in bribing his way to power; a 
second, to satisfy his judges in case of prosecution on his return to 
Rome ; and a third, to enable him to live in luxury for the remainder 

1 Roman citizens in the provinces enjoyed many privileges and rights not pos- 
sessed by the provincials, and were not subject to the authority of the local courts. 

2 §§ 232, 276. 



The Decline of Italy 



339 



of his days. Though a special court was estabHshed for the trial of 
extortion committed in the provinces, it accomplished no good ; for 
the judges were of like mind with the culprits. Thieves and plun- 
derers sat in judgment on thieves and plunderers ; a year or two 
would reverse the role of the two parties. Thus the provincials 
found no protection from 
injustice. To them the 
" peace of Rome " meant 
slavery, decay, and 
death. 

275. The Decline of Italy. 
— Italy was to experience 
a similar decHne. As long 
as Rome treated the Italians 
justly, they were satisfied 
with her rule. At first they 
sided with her against Han- 
nibal, but after the battle of 
Cannae many in the south 
of the peninsula deserted to 
him.^ When Rome recon- 
quered them, she treated 
them not as erring kinsmen 
but as subjects and slaves. 
She seized large tracts of 
their land ; she degraded 
many of them from the 
serfs. 

Rome injured the Italians still more by restricting their trade with 
one another. The great commercial cities of Capua and Tarentum 
disappeared; in the streets of the once prosperous Greek towns 
which still remained, merchants gave place to beggars. 

^ § 263. 




Ceres (Demeter) 
(Goddess of Agriculture) 

condition of alUes to that of state 



340 TJie GrozL'th of Plutocracy 

The farming class suffered equally with the traders ; for as Rome 
now drew her food supply from the provinces, — cheap produce of 
slave labor, — the Italian peasants could find no market for their 
grain. Those who lost their little farms through poverty or by any 
other means usually flocked to Rome, to swell the numbers of a worth- 
less, dangerous mob. The system of great estates worked by slaves 
spread itself over Italy. The large proprietors forcibly seized the 
farms of their poor neighbors. Although the peasants who did their 
own work failed, slave labor was as profitable in Italy as in the prov- 
inces. "Thus the nobles became enormously rich, and while the 
race of slaves multiplied throughout the country, the Italians dwindled 
in numbers and in strength, oppressed by penury, taxes, and military 
service." ^ Such was the condition of Italy at the close of the great 
period of foreign conquest (264-133 B.C.) treated in the preceding 
chapter. 

Had the Italians been able to secure representation in the Roman 
senate, they might by this means have protected their property and 
their freedom. Such a measure was suggested, but the senate was 
too selfish and short-sighted to consider it. In fact the Romans were 
reversing their former policy of liberality toward strangers. So 
highly did they esteem the privileges and honors they enjoyed as an 
imperial people, that henceforth they refused to bestow the citizen- 
ship upon others except in the rarest cases. Exalted by conquest to 
the position of aristocrats, even the common people looked down 
upon the Italians as inferiors. 

276. Roman Citizens ; the Government and the Nobility. — The 
competition of slave labor ruined the Roman peasants as well as the 
Italian. In the capital, too, skilled industry and business were in the 
hands of wealthy persons or of corporations of knights, who relied 
mainly on the labor of slaves and the business cleverness of freed- 
men.^ The many peasants and tradesmen who lost their honest 
livelihood turned to begging and robbery or became clients of the 
1 Appian, Civil Wars, i. 7. '^ § 366. 



The Government 341 

great nobles. It is now easy to understand how it was that while in 
theory conquest was making the Roman citizens lords of the earth, 
it was really bringing most of them to misery and rendering them 
unfit even to govern themselves. 

According to the constitution as amended by Hortensius,^ the full 
citizens of Rome, plebeians and patricians," were all equal, and the 
government was in their hands. The equality and sovereignty of the 
people, however, were empty forms. In fact the assembly was com- 
posed of those who lived in and near the city, as distance prevented 
most of the citizens from attending. Hence the city population, 
which was fast becoming a rabble, alone exercised the right to vote. 
Again, a member of an assembly could not propose a law or a candi- 
date for office, or speak on any subject;^ he could merely vote for 
or against the candidates and the measures offered by the presiding 
officer, who rarely failed to enforce his will upon the comitia. In 
other words, the magistrates controlled the assemblies. But while 
they enjoyed great authority in dealing with the people, or in command- 
ing armies and governing provinces at a distance from Rome, they 
acknowledged the senate as their master.'* The senate was thei-efore 
the supreme power in the state. 

Some years before the beginning of the Punic Wars, the right to 
revise the list of senators was transferred from the consuls to the cen- 
sors. These magistrates were obliged (i) to enroll all who had 
filled curule offices with honor, (2) to consider for the places still 
vacant the names of the less important ex- magistrates ; and (3) in 
case these candidates did not suffice, they were permitted to use their 
pleasure in choosing from the whole body of respectable citizens. 

The senators were not all equal ; for those who had held no curule 
office were placed by the censors in an inferior class, and were called 
upon to vote though not to speak. The curule ex-magistrates, on the 
other hand, were grouped in higher classes according to the offices 
they had filled, and were at liberty not only to vote, but also to 
M 251. =2 §250. ='§241. "§241. 



342 



The Growth of Plutocracy 



debate and to suggest measures. This knot of ex-raagistrates controlled 
the entire senate and, through it, Rome, Italy, and the provinces. It 
seemed just that experienced statesmen should have more authority 

than the assembly of plain citi- 
zens, who knew nothing of the 
condition of the world beyond 
the borders of their own little 
neighborhood. 

The families to which these ex- 
magistrates belonged formed, in 
the beginning, a nobility of 7nerit. 
But from the end of the Second 
Punic War we see the nobles rap- 
idly declining in character and in 
ability. They became an heredi- 
tary caste, consisting of a few 
great houses, and rarely admitted 
new men to their privileged 
circle. They kept all the higher 
offices for themselves, and passed 
them in rotation among the 
members of their families. 

A young noble, after service as 
an officer in the army, and per- 
haps after enriching himself as 
a provincial quaestor, secured 
election to a curule aedileship. 
In this position it was his duty to entertain the people with 
costly religious festivals and shows, chiefly at his own expense ; 
in this way he gained their favor and their votes for the higher 
offices. With this legal and pious system of corruption, he had 
little need of resorting to open bribery. Thence he advanced to 
the praetorship and to the consulship. As praetor, propraetor, or 





AEDILE 

(Giving the signal at the games) 



Flaminius 343 

proconsul/ he governed a province, where he glutted himself with 
spoil, and where irresponsible power made him haughty and brutal. 
If he won distinction in this career of honors the people showed 
their appreciation by electing him to the censorship — the crown of 
glory of the nobility. To complete our understanding of the nobles 
of this period, it is necessary to bear in mind that they were capi- 
talists, who sought office not merely for honor, but also as a means 
of absorbing the riches of the world. The nobility of merit became 
a narrow, self-seeking plutocracy. "- 

The nobles and other wealthy men filled the eighteen centuries of 
knights in the comitia centuriata.'' Still other men of means who 
might be required to furnish their own horses for service in the 
cavalry were also called knights. The class so named, originally 
including the senators, were the capitalists, who took government 
contracts for collecting taxes and for building public works, and 
who had in hand most of the commerce and industry of the Roman 
world. 

277. Gaius Flaminius. — The selfish policy of the senate provoked 
opposition. Against its wishes Gaius Flaminius, tribune of the plebs 
in 232 B.C., carried through the assembly a law for dividing the public 
lands in Pi-ce'num among the citizens. A few years later when war 
broke out with the Gauls of the Po Valley, the people elected him 
consul, that he might win more lands for them. He extended the 
rule of Rome to the Alps, and as censor built a road, named after 
him the Flaminian Way, from the capital to Ariminum, to give easy 
access to the new territory. The people were colonizing this country 
when the invasion of Hannibal interrupted their work. Naturally 
their thoughts turned once more to Flaminius, their champion. 
Elected consul for 217 b.c, he took command against the invader, 
but was defeated and killed at Trasimene.'' Rome lost in him an 

1 § 273, n. 4. 

2 Government by the wealthy, or the ruling class in such a state. 
8 §241. *§26i. 



344 



The Groivth of Plutocracy 



able statesman and a great builder ; and though the aristocrats called 
him a demagogue, his character and motives were nobler than theirs. 
Varro, the next champion of the people, commanded at Cannae, 
where he disgraced his party by defeat.^ Opposition to the senate, 
accordingly, ceased ; and for the remainder of the period ^ the nobles 
were to govern in their own way. 

278. Scipio Africanus. — Scipio Africanus was of a very different 
stamp. The conquest of Spain and the victory at Zama made him 

the greatest man in Rome. For 
fifteen years he was foreman of the 
senate ; he was consul twice, and 
censor. It was his firm conviction 
that Rome should not organize the 
conquered countries into provinces, 
but should hold them as dependent 
allies ; for he saw that the need of 
garrisoning the provinces would 
soon exhaust the strength of Italy. 
In keeping with this principle he 
planted in Italy several colonies 
whose military strength was to be 
reserved for the defence of the 
peninsula. Thus the chief of the 
nobles carried on the colonial policy 
of Flaminius. 

But he had many enemies. 
Accustomed to absolute command 
in the field, at Rome he acted the 
king. He used his immense influ- 
ence for the political advancement of his family, and trampled upon 
the law to protect a brother from trial for embezzlement. Finally 
the tribunes of the plebs prosecuted him on the ground that he had 




PuBLius Cornelius Scipio Akki- 

CANUS" 

(National Museum, Naples) 



§ 262. 



2 Second period of the republic, 264-133 B.C. 



Cato 345 

received bribes, and that he had been extravagant and tyrannous. 
Without replying to the charges, he is said to have spoken as fol- 
lows : " Tribunes of the people, and you, Romans, on the anniversary 
of this day I fought a pitched battle in Africa, with Hannibal and 
the Carthaginians, with good fortune and success. As, therefore, it 
is but decent that a stop be put for this day to wrangling and liti- 
gation, I will immediately go to the Capitol, there to return my 
acknowledgments to Jupiter, supremely good and great, to Juno, 
Minerva, and the other deities presiding over the Capitol and 
Citadel ; and will give them thanks for having, on this day and at 
many other times, endowed me both with the will and with the 
ability to perform extraordinary services to the state. Such of you 
also, Romans, as it suits, come with me and beseech the gods that 
you may have commanders like myself." ^ The whole assembly 
followed him with enthusiasm. But though he was a man of culture, 
fond of literature and of luxury, his talents were chiefly military. 
Unable to cope with his political enemies, he retired into the country 
to private life. 

279. Marcus Porcius Cato. — Marcus Porcius Cato, his chief 
antagonist, was narrow, unsympathetic, and close-fisted, but strictly 
moral — a model of the older Roman virtue. He was a peasant by 
birth, and drew the inspiration of his life from the memories of 
Manius Curius Dentatus,- the great peasant-statesman of the good 
old time, whose modest cottage stood near his father's farm. 
Accordingly " he worked with his slaves, in winter wearing a coarse 
coat without sleeves, in summer nothing but his tunic ; and he used 
to sit at meals with them, eating the same loaf and drinking the same 
wine." ^ 

By the patronage of a rich neighbor, but more by ability and hon- 
esty, this thrifty peasant rose to the highest offices of the state. 
" When he was governor of Sardinia, where former rulers had been 
in the habit of charging their tents, bedding, and wearing apparel to 
1 Livy xxxviii. 51. 2 § 252. ^ Plutarch, M. Cato, 3. 



346 



TJie Growth of Plutocracy 



the province, and likewise making it pay large sums for their enter- 
tainment and that of their friends, he introduced an unheard-of sys- 
tem of economy. He charged nothing to the province, and visited 
the various cities without a carriage, on foot and alone, attended by 
one public servant, who carried his robe of state and the vessel for 
making libations at a sacrifice. With all this he showed himself 

so affable and simple to 
those under his rule, so 
severe and inexorable 
in the administration of 
justice, and so vigilant 
and careful in seeing 
that his orders were 
executed, that the 
government of Rome 
was never more feared 
or more loved in Sardinia 
than when he ruled that 
island." ^ 

In his home policy he 

assailed with untiring 

energy the luxury, the 

refinement, and the cul- 

SACRiMciNG A PiG ^urc rcprcsentcd by the 

(National Museum, Naples) ScipioS ; it waS chiefly 

his influence which overthrew this powerful family. The nobles feared 
and hated the red-haired, gray-eyed, savage-tusked " new man," who 
rebuked their follies and their sins. Chosen censor in spite of their 
opposition, he expelled from the senate a number of disreputable 
members, taxed luxuries unmercifully, administered the public works 
and let out the pubhc contracts without favoritism. The people, 
therefore, placed his statue in the temple of Health, with this inscrip- 
1 Plutarch, M. Cato, 6. 




Culture 



347 



tion, " This statue was erected to Cato because, when censor, find- 
ing the state of Rome corrupt and degenerate, he, by introducing 
wise regulations and virtuous discipline, restored it." The praise is 
too great. Cato could not understand how corrupt his fellow-citizens 
were becoming ; much less did he find a remedy for the evil. 

280, Culture, Religion, and Morals. — In this period the Romans 
began to compose poetry, history, and oratory.' Their useful public 
works, as sewers, bridges, 
roads, and aqueducts, were 
the best in the world. They 
produced little sculpture and 
painting, but preferred to 
import shiploads of art as 
plunder from the cities of 
Sicily and Greece. Without 
appreciation of real beauty, 
the nobles took pleasure in 
adorning their houses and 
villas with stolen statues. 

Along with foreign art 
came the ideas, the religion, 
and the morals of strangers. 
They began to worship the 
Greek Di-o-ny'sus, or Bac'- 
chus, god of the vine and of 
Hfe, including future life, and the Phrygian Cyb'e-le, Mother of the 
Gods, whom noisy processions honored in the streets with drums, 
trumpets, and cymbals, with war-dances and bloody tumults. In 
this way many sober men and women became fanatics. 




A Bacchante 

(National Museum, Naples; a fresco from 

Pompeii) 



^ We have a few of the comedies of Plautus and Terence, who lived in this 
period, and mere fragments of the remaining Roman literature. Polybius, a Greek 
statesman of the age, wrote an able history of the expansion of the Roman power. 
Considerable parts of his work have come down to us, and are very valuable. 



348 The Growth of Plutocracy 

Morals, already declining, were corrupted by Eastern influence ; 
for the unimaginative Roman, who saw little beauty in Greek myth- 
ology and art, welcomed the baser pleasures of an advanced civili- 
zation. At the same time Greek scepticism ^ unsettled his religious 
faith, the foundation of his moral conduct. It is not to be assumed 
that all the Romans were now vicious. The peasant who escaped 
economic ruin was still sound at heart ; and even the circle of aristo- 
crats produced the pure-minded Scipio Aemilianus and the noble, 
self-sacrificing spirit of the two Grac'chi, who were to be the leaders 
of the coming age of revolution. But in the city corruption was 
almost universal. Crowds of beggar clients attended the noble, and 
voted for him in return for the loaves he doled out to them, or for 
the shows of buffoons, beasts, and gladiators with which he amused 
them from time to time. The rending of flesh and the flow of blood 
gave this rabble its keenest delight. As to the higher ranks, the 
greed of the capitalist and the insolence of the noble, already de- 
scribed, were surpassed only by the impurity of their lives, while 
among all classes in the state and empire mutual fear and hatred 
lurked. This condition of affairs called loudly for reform. 

Topics for Reading 

I. A Roman Province. — How and Leigh, History of Rente, pp. 310-313; 
Abbott, Roman Political Institutions, pp. 88-91; Greenidge, Roman Public Life, 
ch. viii; Arnold, Roman Provincial Administration, chs. i, ii. 

II. The Government of Rome in the Time of the Punic Wars. — Tighe, 
Development of the Roman Constitution (primer), ch. vii; How and Leigh, chs. 
xxviii, xxix; Abbott, pp. 150-265, and Greenidge, pp. 152-288 (not restricted to 
the time of the Punic Wars but generally applying to that period). 

III. Roman Character. — Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. vi; Duruy, History 
of Rome, ii. pp. 258-338. 

IV. Marcus Porcius Cato. — Plutarch, M. Porcius Cato ; Botsford, Story of 
Rome, ch. vi; see Indices of the various histories of Rome. 

1 § 156. 




tt»ANSION 

OF TPTE 

ROMAN POWER 

FROM 

THE GRACCHI to the Death of AUGUSTUS. 
133 B. C. to 14 A. D. 

SCALE OF MILES ■■ 



100 50 100 200 300 iOO 



For Chapters VII -IX. 
Vor R«ra6 see Pago 35 



Roman Power in 133 B. C. 
Acquired 133 B. C- 14 A. D. 
Allies of Rome, 14 A. D. 



ENiHA^tO D-r DuRMAY Jt ' 



EnsI 30" from .10 




0. »•, lii.f ,1. ri.i. 10 




Italian Oxen 



CHAPTER VII 



THE REVOLUTION — (I) THE GRACCHI, MARIUS, AND SULLA 

(133-79 B.C.) 

Third Period of the Republic — First Epoch 



281. The Gracchi. — The brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, 
though plebeian, belonged to the highest nobility.^ Their father had 
filled all the great offices ; Cornelia, the mother, was daughter of the 
Scipio who conquered Hannibal. Their education as well as their 
birth and connections fitted them for a splendid career. The gifted 
mother taught them eloquence ; Greek tutors instructed them in the 
philosophy and the political ideas of Hellas. Both married into 
noble families. When as young men they served in military and 

1 § 250. 
349 



350 The Revoh/tion — (/) T/ie Gracchi, Marius, and S?illa 




Youth Reading at a Bookcase 
(Reliel on a sarcophagus) 



provincial ofifices, the allies, the dependents, and even the enemies 
of Rome respected and loved them for the kindness of their fore- 
fathers and for their own high 
character ; for they had inherited 
a generous sympathy with the 
peasants, the provincials, and even 
the slaves. 

282. The Agrarian Law of Tibe- 
rius Gracchus (133 B.C.). — Tibe- 
rius, who was nine years older than 
his brother, saw how miserable was 
the condition of the lower classes. 
Resolving to do all he could for 
their improvement, he became a 
tribune of the plebs for the year 
133 B.C. With the approval of the 
consul Mu'ci-us Scaev'o-la, the most eminent jurist of the age, he 
proposed to reenact the Agrarian law of Licinius and Sextius ^ as 
follows : — 

(i) No one shall have the use of more than five hundred jugera 
of the public land. 

(2) No one shall pasture more than a hundred cattle or five hun- 
dred sheep on the public land. 

He added as a third clause a law passed after the time of 
Licinius : — 

(3) Of the laborers on any farm, a certain proportion shall be 
freemen. 

To these clauses he joined the following : — 

(4) The sons — not exceeding two — of present occupiers may 
each hold two hundred and fifty jugera of public land. 

(5) A committee of three, appointed by the tribes,- shall divide the 
surplus among the needy in lots of thirty jugera each. 

1 § 249. -^ § 251. 



Tiberius Gracchus 351 

His plan was to rescue as many families as possible from idleness 
and poverty, and to fill the country with thrifty peasants in place of 
slaves. By giving the poor an opportunity to earn a living, he hoped 
to make them honest, useful citizens. But the rich, who for genera- 
tions had bought, sold, and bequeathed the pubhc land, like private 
property, declared his bill a scheme of robbery. When accordingly 
he brought it before the assembly, they induced Octavius, a tribune, 
to veto it, and thus they prevented it from passing. 

With the advice of Tiberius the assembly deposed the obstinate 
tribune. As this step was unconstitutional, it began a revolution, 
which was to last a humlred years. The aim of the revolution was to 
substitute the assetnbly for the seiiate, democracy for aristocracy ; it 
was to end in the establishment of the imperial government. 

After the deposition of Octavius, the agrarian measure passed 
without opposition. It was so well carried out that after four years 
the census roll showed an increase of nearly eighty thousand citizens 
fit for mihtary service. To stop the decHne of the population and to 
add so many useful citizens, was the work of a great patriot and 
statesman. 

283. The Death of Tiberius Gracchus (133 B.C.) ; the Democratic 
Outlook. — But Tiberius offered himself for reelection to the tribu- 
nate, — another unconstitutional step. On election day his peasant 
supporters were busy with their harvests ; and when the voting 
began, a crowd of senators and other opponents of the reformer 
dispersed the assembly. Two of the tribunes, turning traitor, 
killed Tiberius with clubs. Three hundred of his followers were 
murdered along with him, and their bodies were thrown into the 
Tiber. Thus the senate resorted to mob violence, by which it 
encouraged lawless conduct. Some time afterward Scipio Aemili- 
anus, the destroyer of Carthage, put a stop to the distributions of 
land, and brought reform to a standstill. 

Though depressed for a time, the democratic leaders soon regained 
courage. One of them proposed to give the Italians the citizenship 



352 The Revolution — (/) The Gi'accJii, Marius, and Sulla 



in order to have them as supporters of the land law. This offer the 
ItaHans would gladly have accepted, had not the senate put a stop to 
the measure. Another leader passed a law permitting the people to 
reelect a tribune in case of a lack of candidates. More important 
still, Gains Gracchus was coming to the front. When the people 
heard him defending a friend in the law court, they were wild with 

delight ; for they saw that other 
orators were mere children com- 
pared with him, and they felt that 
his magnificent talents' were to be 
used in their behalf. For a time 
he avoided politics, but his fate 
called him to finish a brother's 
work ; he dreamed that Tiberius 
appeared to him one night and 
said : " Why hesitate. Gains ? It is 
your destiny, as mine, to live and 
die for the people." 

284. Gaius Gracchus Tribune 
(123, 122 B.C.). — He was candi- 
date for the tribuneship for the 
year 123 b.c. Though the nobles 
opposed him, all Italy gathered to 
his support ; on election day the 
people overflowed the Campus 
Martins and shouted their wishes 




An Old Fisuek.man 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



from the house-tops. When his year of office had expired, they 
elected him to a second term. 

As his brother had failed through reliance on the peasants, who 
could rarely leave their work for politics, one of his first objects was 
to secure a faithful body of supporters such as might always be on 
hand. For this purpose he passed a law providing for the monthly 
distribution of public grain among the citizens at half the market 



Gains Gracchus 353 

price. In doing this he introduced no new principle ; for the senate 
had often suppHed the populace with cheap or free grain, and each 
noble supported a throng of clients. He merely detached the peo- 
ple from their several patrons and enlisted them in the support of 
his reforms. Thus he organized the army of the revolution, which 
even the strongest emperors could not disband. His system wrought 
mischief in draining the treasury and in encouraging idleness ; the 
completion of his great reforms, however, would probably have cor- 
rected the evil. 

Gaius had thought out a complete plan of reform. For the gov- 
ernment, he would always have one of the tribunes an able man, like 
himself, with a power limited only by the will of the people.^ This 
tribune should control the other magistrates and the senate itself 
For the economic improvement of the empire, Gaius would plant 
manufacturing as well as farming colonies in Italy and the provinces, 
to restore to them the prosperity which the nobles had destroyed. 
He would give the full citizenship to the Latins and at least the suf- 
frage to the Italian allies. 

His great mistake was in supposing that the city mob had the 
virtue necessary for the support of his reforms. Angered by his pro- 
posal to give the citizenship to the Italians, it turned against him. 
When the senate tried to prevent him from planting a colony at Car- 
thage, both parties resorted to violence. The consul 0-pim'i-us, 
armed by the senate with absolute power,^ overthrew the Gracchan 
party, and killed Gaius with three thousand of his supporters. 

In setting aside the authority of the senate, and in accustoming the 
people to the rule of one man, Tiberius and Gaius had unintention- 

^ Compare the office of general at Athens under Pericles; § 131. 

- In the Second Punic War the dictatorship had fallen into disuse, to be re- 
vived some time after the Gracchi by Sulla. Meanwhile the senate found a new 
way of proclaiming martial law; by passing the resolution, " Let the consuls see 
that the state suffers no harm," it conferred upon the chief magistrates a power 
equal to that of dictator. Opimius was the first to receive this absolute authority 
from the senate; Cicero also held it in the conspiracy of Catiline; § 295. 
2 A 



354 ^/^^ Revolution — (/) The Gracchi, Mariiis, and Siilla 

ally begun a movement in the direction of monarchy. '' The people, 
though humbled and depressed for a time, soon showed how deeply 
they felt the loss of the Gracchi. For they had statues of the two 
brothers made and set up in pubhc places, and the spots on which 
they fell were declared sacred ground, to which the people brought 
all the first fruits of the seasons, and offered sacrifices there and wor- 
shipped just as at the temples of the gods." ^ They were right in 
enshrining the sons of Cornelia as the noblest characters the history 
of their country had brought to light. 

285. Gaius Marius ; the Jugurthine War (112-106 B.C.). — For the 
happiness and safety of the empire it was necessary that the corrupt 
nobility should be overthrown and a juster, abler government set up 
in its place. Although Gaius Gracchus saw clearly what should be 
done, no political party would support his reforms. The work of 
establishing in the army a soUd foundation for the new government 
remained to his successor, Gaius Ma'ri-us. 

Born of poor parents among the hills of Latium, Marius learned not 
only to work hard, but to be sober and obedient. At an early age he 
entered the army. As a military officer, tribune of the plebs, and 
afterward propraetor of Farther Spain, he showed himself honest and 
able. On his return from Spain he married Julia, of the illustrious 
house of the Caesars ; and when, in 109 B.C., the consul Metellus went 
to Africa to war against the Numidians, he took Marius with him 
as lieutenant. 

Ju-gur'tha, grandson of Masinissa,^ after killing the rightful heirs, 
had himself usurped the throne of Numidia. Though the senate in- 
tervened, he bought off its embassies one after another. When 
Rome made war upon him, he bribed the first commander to with- 
draw from Africa ; and by corrupting the officers of the second, he 
compelled the surrender of the army and sent it under the yoke. 
Such was the state of affairs when Metellus, a man of energy and of 
excellent character, the best noble of his time, took command. He 

1 Plutarch, G. Gracchus, 18. 2 § 270. 



Mariiis ■ 355 

reduced the army to discipline and defeated Jugurtha ; after which 
Marius, elected consul, superseded his former commander and ended 
the war. Lucius Cor-ne'li-us Sul'Ia, a young aristocrat who was 
quaestor under Marius, took Jugurtha captive and brought him to 
Rome, where he perished in prison. This war, with the events which 
preceded it, shows the incompetence and the moral degradation of 
the senate. 

286. The Cimbri and the Teutons; the New Army. — Marius had 
not yet arrived in Rome when the people reelected him consul to 
protect the country from an inroad of barbarians. Two powerful 
German tribes, the Cim'bri and the Teu'tons, assailed Nar-bo-nen'sis, 
the new province Rome had established in Transalpine Gaul, and 
defeated six armies in succession. They threatened to invade Italy, 
but a delay of three years gave the Romans time to prepare. Re- 
elected consul year after year, Marius busied himself with reorganizing 
and training the army. When at length the Teutons were ready to 
cross the Alps into Italy, he met them at Aq^uae Sex'ti-ae in southern 
Gaul, and annihilated their great host (102 B.C.). In like manner he 
and his colleague, Catulus, in the following year slaughtered the 
Cimbri in northern Italy, after they had succeeded in crossing the 
Alps. 

The army which gained these great victories had a new character. 
Before the time of Marius it was a militia ; the men who waged 
Rome's wars had lands and famihes at home, and thought of them- 
selves simply as citizens. But Marius enlisted many who owned no 
property ; and by keeping them long in the service and under care- 
ful training, he made them professional soldiers. Such persons 
placed all their hopes in their commander and were ready to follow 
him in every undertaking, even against the government. Although 
Marius was himself loyal, later generals used the army to overthrow 
the republic. 

287. Marius, Saturninus, and Glaucia (100 B.C.). — In his sixth 
consulship (100 b.c.) Marius allied himself with Sat-ur-ni'nus, a 



356 The Revolution — (/) The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla 

tribune, and Glau'ci-a, a praetor, to carry a law for planting colonies 
of his veterans in the provinces. These two men, though violent in 
their methods, were aiming to carry out the reforms of the Gracchi ; 
they represented the peasants in opposition to the city rabble, which 
now supported the senate. With their armed followers Saturninus 
and Glaucia forced the measure through the assembly of tribes. 
Soon afterward another riot broke out between the rabble and the 
peasants. Then the senators and the knights called upon Marius as 
chief magistrate to put down the sedition. Reluctantly he armed 
some of his forces to defend the constitution against Saturninus and 
Glaucia, his former associates. After some time they surrendered ; 
and though their enemies demanded their death, " he placed them 
in the senate-house with the intention of treating them in a more 
legal manner. The mob considered this a mere pretext. It tore 
the tiles off the roof and stoned them to death, including a quaestor, 
a tribune, and a praetor, who were still wearing their insignia of 
office." 1 

In casting his lot with the nobles, who were his enemies, rather 
than with his friends, the reformers, Marius made a grave mistake. 
Far better would it have been for the Roman world had he seized 
the opportunity to make himself king. The time was ripe for the 
change. But lacking political wisdom, he failed to grasp the situa- 
tion. In fact too great success was undermining his hardy peasant 
character. He missed his destiny; and the fate of Rome passed 
into other hands. 

288. Drusus (91 B.C.); the Social War (90-88 B.C.).— The 
senate now found itself surrounded by enemies ; the knights, the 
mob, and the peasants were all openly or secretly hostile. At the 
same time the oppressed Italians were on the point of rebellion. 
These conditions led some of the more liberal aristocrats to think of 
winning the support of the Italians by granting them the citizenship. 
The leader of this movement, Marcus Livius Dru'sus, a young man of 
^ Appian, Civil Wars, i. 32. 



Tlie Social War 357 

great wealth and illustrious family, became a tribune of the plebs in 
91 B.C. His proposal for the enfranchisement of the Italians passed 
the assembly but was annulled by the senate ; and soon afterward 
Drusus was murdered. A law was then passed which threatened 
with prosecution any one who dared aid the Italians in acquiring the 
citizenship. 

The death of Drusus and the passing of this act deprived the 
Italians of their last hope of obtaining their rights by peaceable 
means. It was not that they wished to vote at Rome ; for most of 
them lived too far away for this. But they needed the protection 
which citizenship gave ; their soldiers desired humane treatment 
at the hands of the commanders ; in the affairs of peace, they asked 
for the same rights of property and of trade which the Romans had 
always enjoyed ; but most of all, they desired Roman officials and 
private citizens to cease insulting, scourging, and killing them for 
amusement or spite. So much citizenship would have meant to 
them. . 

Accordingly, in 90 B.C., the allies, chiefly those of Sabellian race, 
revolted, and founded a new state. As their capital, they selected 
Cor-fin'i-um, and named it I-tal'i-ca. In the main they patterned 
their government after that of Rome ; they gave the citizenship to all 
who took part with them in the war for freedom ; and they aimed 
to annex the whole of Italy. The struggle which now began between 
Rome and her allies {so'ci-i) is called the Social War. As the 
opposing forces were divided into several small armies, the military 
operations were intricate. Though fighting against great odds, the 
Italians were so successful the first year that, near its close, Rome 
felt compelled to make sure of those who were still faithful by 
giving them the citizenship. Soon afterward the same reward was 
extended to those who would return to their allegiance. These 
concessions not only prevented the revolt from extending, but so 
weakened it that, in another year, the Romans broke the strength 
of the allies. 



358 TJie Revolution — (/) TJie Gracchi, Marius, and Snlla 

In addition to local self-government in their own towns (muni- 
cipia) the Italians tiow possessed the Roman citizenship. At last the 
whole Italian nation south of the Rubicon River was organized in one 
great state. But the new citizens were degraded by being enrolled 
in eight new tribes, which voted after \}^^ old thirty-five. Dissatisfied 
with their condition, the Italians still looked upon the senate and the 
city rabble as their oppressors, and they were ready therefore to wel- 
come the strong man who, as absolute master, should make these 
enemies his footstool. Hence the idea of monarchy grew apace. 

289. Marius and Sulla. — Accordingly politics took a new turn ; 
the questions of the future were, who was to be the man of power, 
and how much authority was he to snatch from the senate. The 
first conflict came between the veteran Marius and Sulla, his quaestor 
of the Jugurthine W'ar. The latter, patrician though poor, was en- 
dowed with a remarkable talent for war, diplomacy, and poUtics. 
" His eyes were an uncommonly pure and piercing blue, which the 
color of his face rendered still more terrible, as it was spotted with 
rough, red blotches interspersed with white, ... a mulberry be- 
sprinkled with meal." ^ Success as a general in the Social War 
brought him the consulship in 88 B.C. 

In this year it was necessary for Rome to send an army against 
Alith-ri-da'tes, the powerful king of Pontus, who was attempting to 
conquer Asia Minor. Although Sulla as consul had a claim upon 
the command, the popular party in the assembly appointed Marius. 
Sulla then led his army to Rome and settled the question with the 
sword. Marius escaped to Africa. This was the first time the army 
appeared in politics — a critical moment in the history of the repub- 
lic. We are to bear in mind that the revolution begun by the Grac- 
chi still went on ; its leaders, however, were no longer tribunes but 
generals. After restoring the authority of the senate and giving it 
complete power over the tribunes, Sulla proceeded with his army to 
the war against Mithridates. 

1 Plutarch, Sulla, 2. 



I 



Marins and China 359 

290. Marius and Cinna (87 B.C.). — No sooner had he left Italy 
than an armed conflict broke out between the consuls, Octavius and 
Cinna, over the enrolment of the Italians in the old tribes. In this 
struggle ten thousand men lost their lives. Octavius, leader of the 
aristocracy, drove Cinna, champion of the Italians, from the city. 
The senate deposed the popular leader from the consulship. But 
Cinna quickly gathered an army of Italians, recalled Marius from 
banishment, and following the example of Sulla, marched against 
Rome. Marius returned from an exile which had been to him a 
series of adventures and of hair-breadth escapes. In his old age, 
the greatness of his character had changed to rabid fury against the 
aristocrats. " Filthy and long-haired, he marched through the towns 
presenting a pitiable appearance, descanting on his battles, on his 
victories over the Cimbri, and his six consulships," ^ and with grim 
determination promised the Itahans their rights. His resolution was 
unbroken j for he was superstitious, and he remembered, so at least 
he asserted, that when he was a boy, an eagle's nest containing seven 
Uttle ones had fallen into his lap, — an omen that he should be con- 
sul seven times. The two revolutionary leaders entered the city with 
their bands of Italians, foreigners, and runaway slaves. They killed 
Octavius and all the eminent aristocrats ; for five days they hunted 
down their opponents, massacred them, and plundered their prop- 
erty. They gave the Italians their rights. Marius received his 
seventh consulship, but died soon afterward from excessive drinking. 

While condemning the bloody poHcy of Marius we should not for- 
get that the nobles, by murdering the followers of the Gracchi, by 
opposing every peaceful attempt at reform, and by their greed and 
tyranny, brought this terrible punishment upon themselves. 

291. The Rule of Sulla (82-79 B.C.). — Sulla gained great suc- 
cess in his war with Mithridates (88-84 B.C.) ; but as he saw that his 
opponents at Rome were revelling in power, he patched up a hasty 
treaty of alliance with the king, and returned home with a large, 

1 Appian, Civil Wars, i. 67. 



360 The Revolution — (/ ) The Gracchi, IlTarius, and Sulla 



well- trained army devoted to him. A civil war broke out between 
him and the democratic party, which still held the government. In 
a fierce battle at the Col'Iine Gate of Rome Sulla crushed his ene- 
mies and made himself master of the government. 

He then proceeded with reckless butchery to destroy the oppo- 
nents of his party. Day by day he posted a list of his victims 
("the proscribed "), whom any one might slay and receive therefor 

a reward. The goods of the 
proscribed were confiscated, 
and their children disfranchised. 
The number of persons thus 
murdered at Rome amounted 
to nearly five thousand, includ- 
ing senators and knights. Many 
were the victims of private ha- 
tred, and many more were killed 
for the sake of their wealth. At 
the same time, murder and con- 
fiscation were carried on over 
all Italy. No one dared shel- 
ter a victim, not even children 
their parents. This Satanic law, 
while branding kindness and 
affection as criminal, placed a 
premium upon malice, greed, 
and murder. 

After a time Sulla assumed 
the dictatorship, an office long disused, and put his hand to the work 
of restoring the aristocratic constitution. As many senators had per- 
ished through war and proscription, he permitted the tribal assembly 
to elect new members from his partisans. The whole number of 
senators was to be six hundred. By enacting that no measure should 
be brought before the people without the consent of the senate, — a 




" Sulla " 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Sulla 361 

repeal of the Hortensian Law, — he gave that body control over the 
assemblies. This measure, with another which disquahfied the trib- 
unes from holding higher offices, weakened the tribunate. As a 
consequence the assembly of tribes became far less important than 
that of the centuries.^ 

He increased the number of quaestors and made this office the 
regular stepping-stone to the senate. Instead of six praetors there 
were to be eight, two of whom were still to have the civil jurisdiction, 
while the remaining six were to preside over the criminal courts. A 
man had to be quaestor before he could be praetor, and praetor 
before consul, and he was not permitted to accept the same office 
within ten years. The praetors and the consuls could hold military 
commands only in exceptional cases ; their authority, wholly civil, 
was limited to Italy south of the Rubicon. But on the expiration of 
their office, they became pro-magistrates with military authority for 
an additional year in the provinces. His laws affecting the tribunes 
and the assemblies lasted but ten years ; the others were permanent. 

When he had completed these arrangements, he retired into private 
life. Soon afterward he died, and was buried with pomp and splen- 
dor such as nations rarely display even in honor of their kings. 

He was not yet in his grave when his government began to 
totter. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Lives and Private Character of the Gracchi. — Plutarch; Tibe- 
rius Gracchus; Gains Gracchus; Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. vii; Beesly, 
Gracchi, Mariics, and Sulla ; chs. ii, iii; see Indices of the various histories of 
Rome. 

II. The Public Lands of the Romans and the Law of Tiberius Gracchus. 
— The first part of this topic is to be studied in the various histories of Rome 
by means of the Indices (see Agrarian, Land, etc.), and the second part will be 
found in the chapters on Tiberius Gracchus. 

III. Marius. — Plutarch, Mar ins ; Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. vii; Beesly, 
Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla, chs. iv-x. 

1 §§ 241, 243, 246, 251. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE REVOLUTION — (II) POMPEY, CAESAR, AND OCTAVIUS 

(79-27 B.C.) 

Third Period of the Republic — Second Epoch 

292. Pompey (to 70 B.C.). — Sulla was the first to enforce his 
will upon the state by means of the army. After his time the political 
power fell more and more into the hands of the generals. 

Among the rising officers of the army Gnaeus Pom'pey was most 
fitted to be the heir of Sulla's policy. While still a young man he had 
joined in the civil war upon the democrats, and had shown himself 
so able an officer that Sulla hailed him as " the Great." After the 
death of his patron, Pompey showed himself still further a champion 
of the nobility by helping put down a democratic rebellion against 
the government. A good general was now needed in Spain, and 
the senate, according to Sulla's arrangements, should have sent 
thither as proconsul a man who had already been consul. But as 
it could find no able person with this qualification, it gave the pro- 
consulship to Pompey, who had not filled even the office of quaestor. 

Ser-to'ri-us, a democratic leader, had gone as governor to Spain 
in the time of the civil war. Regarding Sulla as a usurper, he 
claimed to represent the true government of Rome. He was per- 
haps the first Roman to sympathize thoroughly with the governed, 
to make their interests his chief care, to give them the genuine bene- 
fits of Latin civilization. From love and admiration the natives called 
him Hannibal. With the small forces at his command he routed 
the Roman armies sent against him, including that of Pompey. 

-162 



Pompey 



363 



Not till Sertorius was murdered by one of his own generals did 
Pompey succeed in putting an end to the war (76 B.C.). 

Meantime in Italy more than a hundred thousand slaves were in 
revolt. This insurrection was the work of Spar'ta-cus, a gladiator, 
who had escaped from a " training school " in Capua. For two 
years he defied Rome and overthrew her armies (73-71 B.C.). Then 
the praetor Marcus Licinius Cras'sus, 
with eight legions, defeated and killed 
him and dispersed his army. At the 
last moment he was slightly aided by 
Pompey, who had just returned from 
Spain. 

293. Pompey as Consul (70 B.C.) ; 
as Commander against the Pirates (67 
B.C.).- — These two generals were 
eager for the consulship, and as the 
senate hesitated on the ground that 
Pompey had not yet been quaestor or 
praetor, they turned for support to the 
people, promising them the repeal of 
Sulla's laws. Elected consuls in 70 B.C., 
they restored the power of the tribunes 
and took from the senate the authority 
Sulla had given it. Thus the aristo- 
cratic government, after standing but 
ten years, was overthrown by the man 
its founder had styled " the Great." 
This was a victory, not so much of the democracy, as of the army ; 
for the tribunes when restored began to attach themselves to the 
service of the great military leaders. 

For some years pirates had been swarming over the whole 
Mediterranean Sea. They seized cities, captured Roman nobles, 
whom they held for ransom, and by cutting off the grain supply they 




Pompey the Great 

(National Museum, Naples; 

found at Pompeii) 



364 The Reiwlution — (//) Pompcy, Caesar, and Oetavius 

threatened Rome with famine. As the senate seemed powerless to 
check the evil, Ga-bin'i-us, a tribune, proposed to give Pompey for 
three years absolute command of the Mediterranean, together with 
a strip of its coast, fifty miles wide, as far as the Roman empire 
extended. He was to have a vast number of ships and men and 
could draw on the treasury without limit. Though the senate 
opposed the law because it gave so much power to one man, the 
people carried it with enthusiasm. Within forty days after his 
armament was ready, Pompey cleared the sea of pirates. He 
destroyed their hive in Cilicia and made of that country a Roman 
province. 

294. Pompey in the East (66-62 B.C.). — The Romans were again 
at war with Mithridates, but could make little headway against him. 
Many thought Pompey the only man able to conquer this great 
enemy. The tribune Ma-nil'i-us, accordingly, carried a law which 
gave the command in the East to Pompey in addition to the power 
he already had. He easily drove the king from Pontus, the most 
of which he joined to Bithynia, a newly organized province. 

He then annexed Syria as a province to the empire, thus extend- 
ing the dominion of Rome to the Euphrates. Taking advantage of 
a civil war in Judea, he subdued that country. A few small king- 
doms remained in and about Asia Minor ; their rulers, though allies 
in name, were really vassals of Rome. With the great Parthian em- 
pire beyond the Euphrates he made a treaty of friendship. Like 
Alexander the Great he founded many Greek colonies in order 
to extend the civilization of Greece throughout the East. These 
arrangements were all admirable. With her dependent allies and 
her provinces, Rome now occupied the entire circuit of the Medi- 
terranean. 

Mithridates, who at the age of eleven had become king of Pontus, was a 
miracle of physical strength and mental cunning, but cruel and bloodthirsty. 
He waged three wars with the Romans : — 

I. (88-84 B.C.)- — He aimed not only to extend his kingdom around the 



Catiline 365 

Black Sea, but also to make it include all Asia Minor, the western part of which 
belonged to Rome. By his order eighty thousand Romans and Italians through- 
out Asia Minor were murdered in a single day. Greece sided with him; his 
armies occupied Thrace and Macedonia. Then Sulla took the field, and in less 
than three years wrested from Mithridates all his conquests (§§ 289, 291). 

II. (83-82 B.C.). — Mu-re'na, the successor of Sulla, provoked a brief, 
unimportant war with the king of Pontus. It was ended by the order of Sulla. 

III. (74-63 B.C.). — After preparing a great army and fleet, Mithridates 
began a last desperate struggle with Rome. Lucullus, the consul in chief 
command, was successful for a time, and then lost ground. Next Pompey took 
the field, and Mithridates, defeated in battle, fled from his kingdom, and was 
afterward killed, at his own request, by a Gallic mercenary. On the character 
and deeds of Mithridates, see Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. viii. 

295. The Conspiracy of Catiline (63 B.C.) In the absence of 

Pompey important events were taking place at Rome. Cic'e-ro, a 
native of Ar-pi'num, the birthplace of Marius, became consul in 63 
B.C. Though he was from a municipium and a man of moderate 
means, his brilliant oratory and administrative ability won for him 
the highest offices at Rome. In his consulship a conspiracy, which 
for some time had been forming on a vast scale, threatened to destroy 
the government. The leader, Lucius Cat'i-hne, was a man of high 
birth and of splendid talents, but vicious and depraved. He drew 
to himself the most desperate men in Italy, including all who wished 
a renewal of civil war and massacres, as well as debtors, gamblers, 
and assassins. While the head of the conspiracy was at Rome, its 
members extended throughout the peninsula. When these anar- 
chists had their plans well laid for killing the magistrates and the 
nobles and for seizing the government, the vigilant consul discovered 
their plot and denounced Catiline before the senate. The arch- 
conspirator fled to the army he had been preparing in Etruria, where 
he was soon afterward defeated and killed. Cicero arrested a few 
of Catiline's chief associates who remained in the city, and by virtue 
of the absolute power given him by the senate, put them to death 
without a trial (§ 284, n. 2). 

His success in saving the state made Cicero for a time the most 



366 TJie Revolution — {JI ) Pompcy, Caesar, and Octavius 



eminent man in Rome. The people saluted him Father of his 
Country ; and though he was a " new man," ^ the senators recognized 
him as their leader. He loved his country well and was strongly 
attached to the republican form of government. But he had not 
the strength of will to follow a policy of his own or to live up to his 
ideals. Such in fact had become the condition of public affairs that 

the statesman, how- 
ever grand, appears 
strangely dwarfed 
and out of place ; 
for the age of gen- 
erals had come, they 
were the only strong 
men and managed 
the politicians as 
their puppets. It 
was in vain, therefore, 
that Cicero hoped to 
make Pompey a de- 
fender of the republi- 
can constitution. 

296. The First 
Triumvirate — Cae- 
sar, Pompey, and 
Crassus (60 B.C.). — 
All were anxiously 
awaiting the return of Pompey from the East. While both nobles 
and democrats claimed him, some feared he might overthrow the 
government and make himself dictator by means of his army, as Sulla 
had done. But his love for the republic, together with a belief that 
his influence alone would bring him all the honor and power he 
needed, led him to disband his army and come to Rome as a private 

1 § 250. 




CiCKKO 

(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Caesar 367 

citizen. He was bitterly disappointed. The senate, which had always 
distrusted him, hesitated to sanction his arrangements in the East. The 
great general found himself as helpless in politics as Marius had been. 

It happened, however, that two eminent politicians needed his aid. 
One was Crassus, whose great wealth gave him influence. The 
other was Gains Jn'/i-i/s Cae'sar. This young man, though a patri- 
cian, was leader of the democratic party. He as well as Crassus 
desired a military command like that which Pompey had held. The 
motive of Crassus seems to have been the enjoyment of wealth and 
power ; Caesar aimed to be a great general and statesman. 

Seeing Pompey cast off by the senate, they came to him with a 
proposal that they three should act together for their common inter- 
ests. This union of the three men, though unofficial, is called the 
First Tri-um'vi-rate. Pompey contributed to it his military fame, 
Crassus the influence of his wealth, and Caesar his commanding in- 
telligence. According to agreement Caesar received the consulship 
in 59 B.C., and in return secured from the people the ratification 
of Pompey's Eastern arrangements. As the tool of the triumvirs, 
or at least under their protection, the tribune Clo'di-us carried a 
decree for the banishment of Cicero on the ground that in his 
consulship he had put citizens to death without a trial. The people 
soon recalled him, however, and restored him to honor. 

297. Caesar Proconsul of Gaul (58-49 B.C.). — At the close of his 
term Caesar as proconsul received for five years the government of 
Cisalpine Gaul, Narbonensis, and Il-lyr'i-cum. He now held the 
kind of position for which he had long been striving ; it would give 
him an army through which he might make himself the greatest 
power in the state. Before the end of his period of government the 
triumvirs renewed their alliance. Caesar was to have five more 
years of command in Gaul ; Pompey and Crassus were to be consuls 
in 55 B.c and afterward to take charge of some of the best provinces 
in the empire. In this way these men divided among them the 
Roman world. 



368 The Revolution — {II) Pompey, Caesar, and Octaviiis 

In the history of the First Triumvirate the interest centres in 
Caesar. Along the southern coast of what is now France, lay Nar- 
bonensis, recently organized as a Roman province. North of this 
province were the still unconquered Gauls, chiefly of Celtic race, 
extending northward and westward to the coasts and eastward to the 
Rhine. In civilization these people were decidedly inferior to the 
Romans, but had learned to make their living mainly by tilling 
the soil. East of the Rhine were the barbarous, half-nomadic Ger- 
mans. A crisis in Rome's relation with these Northern peoples was 
now at hand, like that with which Marius had successfully grappled. A 
powerful German tribe under the chieftain A-ri-o-vis'tus had crossed 
the Rhine and had seized some lands of the Gauls. This movement 
was but the beginning of a German migration, which if unchecked 
would have thrown Gaul into commotion, and might have brought 
both German and Celtic hordes into Narbonensis and even into 
Italy. A more direct menace to Rome came from the Hel-ve'ti-ans, a 
great Celtic tribe of the Alps, who were abandoning their home in the 
mountains for the broader and more fertile lands of southern Gaul. 

298. The Conquest of Gaul (58-49 B.C.). — Caesar, who at this time 
had had little experience in command, thus found himself confronted 
by enormous difficulties and dangers. But the ease with which he 
overcame everything in his way marked him at once as a great master 
of the art of war. With wonderful rapidity he gathered his widely 
scattered forces, enrolled new legions, and inspired his raw recruits 
with the courage and devotion of veterans. He immediately defeated 
the Helvetians with great slaughter, and drove the remnant of their 
host back to their former home. In the same summer he won a 
great victory over the Germans and compelled them to recross the 
Rhine. In the following year, as the Bel'gi-ans of northern Gaul 
threatened to give him trouble, he resolved to subdue them. In the 
invasion of their country he met little opposition till he came to the 
NerVi-i, the most warlike and the most powerful of the Belgic 
tribes. These people would have nothing of Roman traders in wine 



Conquest of Gaul 369 

and other luxuries, for they wished to keep their strength intact and 
their martial fire alive. While Caesar was approaching they fell 
upon him so fiercely that he could neither form his line nor give 
orders. Each soldier was left to his own judgment. But the cool 
courage of the legionaries and the heroism of the commander won 
the desperate fight. Few Nervii survived. As a result of the cam- 
paign all northern Gaul submitted. Next year he attacked the 
Ven'e-ti, who occupied a strip of the westena coast. A maritime 
people, they built their towns on headlands protected on all sides by 
tide-waters too shallow for Roman ships. They themselves put to 
sea in clumsy flat-bottomed boats with leathern sails. Caesar made 
little progress against them till his small, light fleet met their bulky navy 
in the open sea. A happy thought occurred to the Romans. With 
scythes fastened to long poles they cut the enemy's tackle so as to 
disable his ships. Victory was then easy ; the Veneti with their allies 
submitted. 

In the remaining years of his command Caesar drove back another 
horde of Germans ; to check their inroads he twice invaded their 
country. His two voyages to Britain prepared the way for the future 
conquest of that island. It was necessary, too, to crush fierce rebel- 
lions among his new subjects ; but though his conquest spread deso- 
lation and death over the entire country, in the end his just and 
humane settlement of aff'airs attached the subjects loyally to him. All 
Gaul, at first under one governor, afterward became four provinces. 
It gave new strength to Rome and protected the Rhine frontier 
against the dangerous Germans. The new subjects not only served 
in the armies, but readily learned Latin and adopted the Roman dress 
and customs. 

299. The End of Crassus (53 B.C.) ; Pompey and Caesar clash. — 
Meanwhile Crassus took command in Syria, his province. He was 
defeated and killed by the Parthians, whom he had needlessly pro- 
voked to war. Pompey, instead of going to his provinces in Spain 
and Africa, as the law directed, remained near Rome to help the 

2B 



370 TJic Revolution — (//) Ponipey, Caesar, and Octavius 

senate preserve order. The nobles now looked to him for protection 
from the mighty governor of Gaul, who represented the people. 

These two leaders ceased to be friends. Then, in 49 B.C., the 
senate ordered Caesar to lay down his command on pain of being 
declared a public enemy. When the tribunes, Mark Antony and 
Quintus Cassius, vetoed this decree, they were harshly treated, and 
fled thereupon to Caesar's camp. The mistreatment of the tribunes 
gave him a pretext for bringing his army to Rome to protect the 
sacred office (§ 242). 

The story is told that at the Rubicon, which separated his province 
from Italy, Caesar hesitated while he discussed with his friends the 
consequences of crossing, like an invader, into Italy and of thus mak- 
ing himself an enemy to his country ; then exclaiming, " The die is 
cast ! " he hurried over the river, and with a trumpet summoned 
his troops to follow. Although the anecdote may not be true, the 
crossing of the Rubicon was a crisis in the life of Caesar and in the 
history of his country ; for by bringing his army into Italy in violation 
of the law, he began a war upon the republic. 

300. The Civil War (48-45 B.C.). — Pompey, with the consuls and 
many senators, retired to the East, where he expected his great 
influence to bring him abundance of supporters and of resources for 
war. Caesar immediately secured control of Italy and Spain. His 
gentleness to opponents and his moderation in relieving distressed 
debtors and in protecting property won the hearts of all quiet citizens, 
and made even many followers of Pompey suspect that they had 
taken the wrong side. After setting up a government at Rome, 
Caesar crossed to Greece and met his rival at Phar-sa'lus, in Thessaly. 
Although in appearance Pompey championed the senate, the real 
question at issue was which of the two commanders should rule the 
Roman world. Pompey's army outnumbered the enemy more than 
two to one ; but the mental resources of Caesar, together with the 
superior manliness of the troops from western Europe, won the day. 
Pompey fled to Egypt \ and when Caesar reached Alexandria in pur- 



Civil War 



371 



suit, a would-be friend brought him the head of his murdered rival. 
It was no welcome gift to the noble victor. 

In Egypt, King Ptolemy had deposed Ck-o-pa'fra, at once his 
wife and sister. But 
Caesar, siding with 
the charming queen, 
established her as 
sole monarch. 
Then while passing 
through Syria and 
Asia Minor he set- 
tled the affairs of 
the provinces, and 
in one battle crushed 
Phar 'na-ces, son and 
successor of Mithri- 
dates, thus putting 
an end to a danger- 
ous enemy. After 
the victory he sent 
the senate this brief 
despatch, " Veni, 
vidi, vici'" (I came, 
I saw, I con- 
quered). Another 
year he defeated the 
senatorial army at 
Thap'sus in Africa. 
One of the aristo- 
cratic commanders Gaius Julius Caesar 
in that region was (National Museum, Naples) 

Cato, — honest, loyal, and stubborn, yet narrow-minded as had been 
his great-grandfather, the famous censor. In despair of the republic 




372 TJic l\cvolutio)i — (//) Poj)ipcy, Caesar, and Octo-vius 

he killed himself. Soon afterward the victory at Mun'da in Spain 
destroyed the last opposition to Caesar. 

301. Caesar's Government. — He held at one and the same time 
the offices of consul, censor, and dictator, granted him for long 
periods or for life. As pontifex maximus he was head of the state 
religion. These offices made him king in all but name. He received, 
too, for life the title Imperator ("general"), from which the word 
emperor is derived. As the army overthrew the republic, it was 
natural that the general should become the emperor. Evidently 
Caesar wished to make his power hereditary ; and as he had no 
nearer heirs, he adopted as a son his grandncphew Octavius, a youth 
of remarkable talent. 

Caesar allowed the assemblies little power, and made the senate a 
mere advisory council. Sulla had doubled the number of senators ; 
(\iesar increased it Xo nine hundred by admitting not only knights 
but also many inferior citizens and even some half-barbarous Gauls. 
Probably he wished in time to make it represent the whole empire. 

In the provinces the evils of aristocratic rule, described in an 
earlier chapter,' were now at their height. 15y abolishing the system 
of leasing the direct taxes, Caesar prevented the capitalists from 
plundering the subject countries. He appointed able, honest govern- 
ors and held them strictly to account. The oiilicers whom he ap- 
pointed to command the legions, under the governor, and the 
revenue otlicials, who were his own servants and freednien,- saw that 
his will should everywhere be cnforcetl. The " estates of the 
Roman people," as the jiroviiices had been called, were to be 
cultivated and im])roved, no longer pillaged. Thus by destroying 
the root of the evil Caesar regenerated provincial life. He gave 
citizenship to the Gauls, and it was his wish that as rapidly as 
possible all the provincials should become Romans. At the same 
time he greatly improved the condition of Rome and Italy. 

302. Caesar's Death (44 B.C.); the Heir— The nobles were envious of 

> C h. vi. § 274. 2 § 36(3. 



Caesar's Death 373 

Caesar, and longed to regain the privilege of misruling the world. While 
they forced upon him honors such as belonged only to the gods, they 
began to plot his murder. Chief among the conspirators were the 
" lean and hungry " Cassius, and Marcus Brutus, a man with good 
intentions, but weak and unpractical. All together there were about 
sixty in the plot. Pretending to urge a petition of one of their 
number, they gathered about him in the senate and assailed him with 
daggers. He fell stabbed with twenty-three wounds. The senate 
dispersed. Mark An'to-ny, Caesar's colleague in the consulship, 
delivered the funeral oration and read the will, which, by its gener- 
osity to the citizens, stirred them against the murderers. The most 
sincere mourners, however, were the provincials who chanced to be 
in Rome ; they wept over the ashes of their mighty benefactor, and 
doubtless dreaded the renewed anarchy and terrorism of senatorial 
rule.^ 

Fearing the enraged populace, the chief conspirators fled from 
Rome. Cicero, who approved the murder, though he had" no hand 
in it, sailed for Greece but was driven back by a storm. Thereupon 
he returned to Rome to take the lead of the senate against the con- 
sul Mark Antony, who was acting the tyrant. In the next few months 
Cicero delivered against him a series of powerful speeches, known as 
the Philippics from their resemblance to the orations of Demosthenes 
against Phihp of Macedon.^ But eloquence had ceased to be a force 
in the world. A civil war was to decide who should succeed the 
deceased monarch. 

Octavius was pursuing his studies in Illyricum when news came of 
his great-uncle's death. He sailed at once for Italy, and taking the 
name Gains Julius Caesar Oc-ta-vi-a'nus, he came almost alone to 
Rome, into the midst of enemies. But he soon gained friends. By 
promising the people all their late ruler had bequeathed them, he 
readily won their hearts ; and for a time he sided with the senate 
against Antony. Deceived by his show of frank simplicity, Cicero 

^ On the character of Caesar, see Botsford, Story of Home, ch. viii. '^ § 185. 



374 TJic Revolution — (//) Pompey, Caesar, ami Octavhis 

declared that the young Octavianus was all for the republic. In fact 
this youth of nineteen years had no enthusiasm for any cause ; in 
cool cunning he outmatched even the political veterans of the capital. 

303. The Second Triumvirate (43) ; the Battles of Philippi (42 B.C.). 
— With an army he had raised, Octavianus helped win a victory over 
Antony. The senate, now feeling secure, cast off the boy. Imme- 
diately he came to an understanding with Antony, his rival, and with 
Lep'i-dus, Caesar's master of horse, who still held an important com- 
mand. These three men made of themselves " Triumvirs for Reestab- 
lishing the State," — an office they were to hold five years, with power 
to dispose of all magistracies at will and to issue decrees which should 
have the force of law. They filled Rome with their troops and 
renewed the hideous proscriptions ^ of Sulla. Each sacrificed friends 
and even kinsmen to the hatred of the others. Among the victims 
of Antony was Cicero, the last great orator of the ancient world. 
Though he was vain and wavering, though the cause he championed 
meant anarchy for Rome and misery for the provinces, in his heart 
he was a patriot and a friend of liberty. 

Antony and Octavianus led their armies to Macedonia to meet the 
repubhcan forces which Cassius and Brutus had collected there. 
Two battles were fought near Phi-lip 'pi. After the first, which was 
indecisive, Cassius killed himself in despair. Brutus, beaten in the 
second engagement, followed the example of his mate ; the repubh- 
can scholar could not live under the rule of iron. 

304. Civil War between Antony and Octavianus (31) ; End of the 
Republic (27 B.C.)- — The triumvirs renewed their authority for 
another five years ; and when the incompetent Lepidus dropped from 
the board, the two remaining members divided the empire between 
them. Antony ruled the East and Octavianus the West. To cement 
the alliance, the heir of Caesar gave his sister Octavia in marriage to 
his colleague. But trouble soon arose. Though a clever orator, a 
diplomatist, and no mean general, Antony was fond of luxury and of 

1 Cf. ShaUspere, Julius Caesar, Act IV. Scene i. 



Actiiim 



375 



vice. Neglecting his wife and the interests of the state, he spent his 
time with Cleopatra in frivolous dissipation. The Italians supposed 
he intended to make her his queen and himself despot of an Oriental 
empire with Alexandria for his capital. They willingly followed 
Octavianus, therefore, in a war against this national enemy. The 
fleets of the rivals met off AcUi-um on the west coast of Greece 
(31 B.C.). A-grip'pa, an able general, commanded the ships of Octavi- 
anus against the combined squadrons of Antony and Cleopatra. In 
the early part of the fight this infatuated pair sailed away, leaving 




Cleopatra 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 

their fleet to take care of itself. Their ponderous galleys were out- 
manoeuvred by Agrippa's light triremes, and many of them were burned 
with fire-balls. After the battle, Antony's land force surrendered. 
At last when he and Cleopatra committed suicide in Alexandria, 
Octavianus was master of the empire. For a time it seemed doubtful 
whether in imitation of his adoptive father he would retain all the 
power in his own hands, or restore it to the senate after the example 
of Sulla ; but finally he chose a middle course. The republican 
period came to an end in 27 b.c, when he laid down the office of 
triumvir and received from the senate the tide Augustus. Hitherto 



3/6 The Revolution — (//) Pompey, Caesar, and Octavius 

this epithet had been reserved for the gods and their belongings. In 
conferring it on Octavianus the senate intended to grant no power, 
but to mark him as the one whom all should revere. Though we 
shall henceforth speak of him as Augustus, we are to bear in mind 
that all the emperors after him held this title as their chief distinc- 
tion. It is nearly equivalent to His Sacred Majesty. 

The battle of Actium was one of the most important in ancient 
history ; it saved European civilization from undue Oriental influence ; 
it ended the long anarchy which followed the murder of Caesar ; and 
it placed the destiny of the empire in the hands of an able states- 
man. 

Let us in the following summary review the causes of the change 
from republic to empire : — 

(i) Conquest brought excessive power and wealth to a few of the 
Romans, while it reduced the bulk of the citizens to poverty and 
wretchedness. (2) The senate, representing these men of wealth, 
became corrupt, oppressive, and weak ; it could neither maintain 
order in Rome nor protect the provinces. (3) The Gracchi began 
the revolution. Gaius Gracchus organized the city mob, a revo- 
hitionary force, through which he set aside the authority of the 
senate. (4) But in the army, as reformed soon afterward by 
Marius, an ambitious man could find a far more reliable and 
effective weapon for overthrowing the senate and for making him- 
self master of the government. (5) Sulla first used this military 
instrument for poUtical purposes. (6) It was the work of Pompey 
in his war with the pirates and with Mithridates to show how bene- 
ficial to the Roman world the rule of one man might be. (7) The 
government of Caesar was a real monarchy, though it had too 
powerful enemies to be lasting. (8) After his death the senate 
failed to recover its authority, and the civil wars following decided 
that Octavianus, his heir, should be master of the empire. 



Literature 



177 



Culture ' 



305. The Great Age of Republican Literature (82-27 B.C.). — A 
practical people with little imagination, the Romans were slow in 
turning their attention to literature. And though in time they pro- 
duced much poetry as well as prose, they were in their literary 
labors imitators of the Greeks. A few of their writers, however, 
show originality and even genius. 
The first great age of Latin literature 
extends from the dictatorship of 
Sulla to the fall of the republic. 

One of the most eminent writers 
of this age was Caesar. His Com- 
iiientaries on the Gallic War and 
on the Civil War tell the story of 
his campaigns. The work is a 
model historical narrative, — plain, 
accurate, and elegant, with no pre- 
tension to ornament of any kind. 
Toward the end of the period Sallust 
wrote a short treatise On the Con- 
spiracy of Catiline and another On 
the Jugurthine War. Along with 
his narrative of events, he tried to 
analyze impartially the character of 
society and the motives of conduct. 
These works are valuable sources of 
information for the subjects treated. 
These were the chief historians of 
the age. Cornelius Ne'pos wrote a work On Eminent Alen, in which 
he treated famous Romans and foreigners. Most of the lives which 

1 Those teachers who wish to follow the political narrative without interruption 
may omit §§ 305, 306. 




Apollo with a Lyre 
(National Museum, Naples) 



378 TJie Revolution — (//) Pompey, Caesar, and Octavhis 

we still possess are of Greek generals ; they prove him to have been 
an inferior and untrustworthy author. 

The foremost orator of the period — and one of the most famous 
of all time — was Cicero. A perfect master of style, he brought 
Latin prose to the height of its development. If in reading his 
speeches we guard against his misrepresentation of truth, we shall 
find them valuable for the study of the times. More trustworthy are 
his Letters to friends, in which he speaks candidly of passing events. 

Lu-cre'ti-us, a poet of the age, composed in verse a work On the 
Nature of the World, in which he tried by means of science to dis- 
pel from the mind all fear of death and of the gods, — to free men 
from superstition. It is a work of remarkable genius. Ca-tul'lus, 
who lived at the same time, wrote beautiful lyrics and elegies on sub- 
jects of love and life, and some bitter lampoons. On the whole, the 
poetry of this period is less celebrated than that of the following. 

306. Public Works — Art (to 27 B.C.). — In art as well as in 
literature the Romans preferred use to beauty. Their practical nature 
showed itself especially in such necessary public works as roads, bridges, 
sewers, and aqueducts. 

In the beginning they found their models among the Etruscans, 
and not long afterward among the Greeks. Though the chief influ- 
ence in their art, as in their literature, was Hellenic, they did not 
copy merely, but whatever they learned of others they adapted in 
their own way to their own needs. Next to usefulness the works of 
their hands are most famous for grandeur and durability. These, 
too, were qualities of their character ; but they were able to achieve 
their ideals partly because of the excellent building material in and 
about Rome and partly through the use of the round arch. This 
form of architecture they employed in sewers, in bridges, and with 
necessary modifications in the domes of some of their temples. 

We have already noticed the architecture of the regal period.' 
The Cloaca Maxima is still in use, and parts of the " Wall of Romu- 

^ § 226. 



Architecture 



379 



lus"and of the "Servian Wall" are standing at the present day. 
The men of the republican period continued to build, but their 
works have almost completely disappeared. In 312 B.C. Appius 
Claudius Caecus,^ as censor, built the first aqueduct and the first 
military road — the Appian Aqueduct and the Appian Way. For 
miles along this road are the tombs of the great Roman families. 







Tomb of Cecilia Metella 
(Appian Way) 

That of Cecilia Metella, built in the age of Juhus Caesar, is the most 
impressive. 

While we appreciate the progress of literature and of intelligence, 
we must not lose sight of the fact that in nearly every other respect 
Rome was rapidly decaying. Her once sound morals had given way 
to vice ; republican freedom had long been a mere shadow ; the 
empire was threatened within by anarchy, without by barbarians. 

I §251. 



380 The Revolution — (//) Poinpey, Caesar, and Octavius 

No reforms could make the old world young. All that statesmen 
could now do was to determine what elements of life and virtue still 
lingered in the Roman world, and to organize th'ese forces, with 
which to stay for a few more centuries the wreck of ancient civilization. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Cicero in Politics. — Plutarch, Cicero; Merivale, /v'ow^w Triumvirates; 
Strachan-Davidson, Cicero; How and Leigh, History of Koine ; Shuckburgh, 
History of Rome (see Indices). 

II. Cicero as an Orator. — Mackail, Latin Literature, pp. 62-68; Cruttwell, 
Roman L.iterature, pp. 159-174. 

III. Caesar's Government. — Abbott, Roman Political Lnstitutions, pp. 133- 
138; Strachan-Davidson, ch. xii; Yovi\*tx, fulius Caesar, ch. xviii. 

IV. The Conspirators against Caesar. — Plutarch, Cicero; Brutus; Bots- 
ford, Story of Rome, ch. viii; Strachan-Davidson, pp. 370-379; Fowler, pp. 
369-378; Merivale, Roman Triumvir ates,^^^. 171-213; cf. Shakspere, Julius 
Caesar. 




Julia, Dai i.ii h-.k <ii Ai ll .->i i l, and hi.u .^mns (_jail:s and Lucius 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



J 



CHAPTER IX 

THE JULIAN EMPERORS (27 B.C.- 41 a.d.) 
The Dyarchy 

307. The Frontiers. — The republic fell because of the weakness 
and the oppression of the nobles. The rule of the emperors, on 
the other hand, brought protection and happiness to the empire. 

The first aim of Augustus (emperor 27 B.C.-14 a.d.) was to defend 
the empire against foreign enemies, to maintain quiet by diplomacy, 
and to wage war solely for the sake of peace. 

To protect the northern frontier from the barbarians of central 
Europe was the most diiificult problem with which he had to deal. 
Tiberius, a stepson,^ extended the empire as far as the Danube, and 
began to build a chain of forts along that river. Meanwhile Drusus, 
the younger brother of Tiberius, was fortifying the Rhine in a similar 
way and was attempting to conquer Germany as far as the Elbe. But 
after three years of successful warfare he fatally injured himself by a 
fall from his horse. Hastening to his brother's side, Tiberius was 
with him in his last moments ; and with a devotion which was rare 
in that age, he brought the body from the depths of the German 
forest to Rome, walking all the way in front of the bier. It was a 
great loss to the imperial family, for Drusus was an able man and 
popular with the army. 

After Tiberius had completed the conquest, Augustus made Va'rus, 
a distant kinsman, governor of the new province. This man had 

^ Livia, wife of Augustus, had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus, by a former 
marriage. As the adopted son of Augustus, Tiberius entered the Julian family 
and became the second emperor; § 311. 

381 



382 



The Jiilian Emperors 



too much of the old republican spirit ^ to make a good ruler. He 
considered his subjects mere slaves, whom he tried to govern by the 
principles he had learned in the Orient. They resisted ; and under 
the lead of Ar-min'i-us, a chieftain's son who had received his educa- 
tion at Rome, they 
plotted against their 
tyrannic governor. 
As he was leading 
his three legions 
through the Ten' to - 
berg Forest on his 
way to winter 
quarters, they sur- 
rounded him and cut 
his army to pieces. 
Varus killed him- 
self; the barbarians 
hung their prisoners 
to trees and tortured 
them to death 
(9 A.D.). Though 
Augustus appeared 
to bear the news 
with a brave heart, 
his spirit was broken 
by the misfortune 
he could not repair. 
From time to time he would say, " Varus, Varus, give me back my 
legions." Convinced that the strength of the empire should not 
be further wasted upon such projects, he established the Rhine as 
the boundary, and decided resolutely on a policy of peace. 

308. The Provinces; the Government. — The border provinces 
1 On the oppression of provinces by republican governors, see § 274. 




Augustus 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Augustus 383 

and all others which danger threatened were under the direct care of 
the emperor. His lieutenants had charge of their judicial and military 
affairs ; his agents attended to finance. The older and more peaceful 
provinces still belonged to the senate, which appointed annual govern- 
ors. This double rule of the emperor and senate is termed a dy^arch-y. 
The division of power was carried through the whole government. 

Augustus followed the example of Julius Caesar in insisting on a 
just and vigorous government ; although he withheld the Roman 
citizenship, the provincials now enjoyed a large degree of municipal 
freedom. He encouraged trade and knit the empire together by 
building well-paved roads to the remotest parts of the Roman world. 
Thus the imperial government brought the provinces protection from 
invasion, thrift, happiness, and the healthful atmosphere of local 
freedom. However far from ideal, the system was as good as circum- 
stances would permit. 

Like Caesar, Augustus held at once various kinds of official author- 
ity — chiefly the proconsular power for the control of the provinces 
and the tribunician power for the government of Rome. The trib- 
unician authority made his person sacred and marked him as a 
friend of the people. Although he sometimes held the consulship 
and occasionally undertook the duties of censor, he generally left the 
old offices to others, whom the people elected and the senate super- 
vised in the traditional way. This division of powers and offices 
between him and the senate was also an element of the dyarchy. 
The consuls, whose term was now generally less than a year, the 
praetors, the plebeian tribunes, and the other republican officets per- 
formed their routine duties with little change ; but they were all 
under the shadow of Augustus. By professing to derive his author- 
ity from the senate and people, he disguised his own position in 
republican forms. Whereas the moderns call him emperor from his 
title of imperator, the Romans styled him simply prince, the " fore- 
most " of the citizens. The outward sign of his position was the 
purple robe which he wore at festivals. 



;$4 



The Julian Ii)fi/'iivrs 



For his own security he kept near Rome a body of troops known 
as the //>•-/<''/•/-(?;/ * gt/anL Although these soldiers were doubtless 
necessary, their power and insolence grew till in time they made and 
iiiurilorcil emjierors at pleasure ($ 3-J^). 

309. Public Improvements ; Architecture. — Augustus planted 
many colonies both in Italy and in the provinces. His aim was not 




TuE Temfle of Mars the .-Vvenger 

(In the .Augustan I-\irum') 

onlv to furnish his retired veterans with larms but also to resettle 
vacant districts, so as to increase the prosperity of the country. 

With him begins the great age of Roman architecture. He him- 
self tells us of his public w-orks : — 

'• The Capitol - and the Pompeian theatre I have repaired at enor- 
mous expense. . . . Aqueducts which were cmmbling in many 
places, by reason of age, I have restored . . . and have finished the 

1 From f'r,jf-io'ri-uni. the general's tent, — the pretorian guard was an out- 
growth from the guard which protected the general's headquarters. 
'^ The Capitoline temple of Jupiter. 



Piiblic Works 



385 



Julian Forum and the ba-sll'i-ca which was between the temple of 
Castor and the temple of Saturn, works begun and almost completed 
by my father ^ ; and when that same basilica was consumed by fire, I 
began its reconstruction on an enlarged scale, inscribing it with the 
names of my sons. If I do not Hve to complete it, I have given 
orders that it be finished by my heirs. In accordance with a decree 
of the senate, while consul for the sixth time, I restored eighty-two 




'\\\v. Pantheon 
(Campus Martius) 

temples of the gods, passing over none which was at that time in 
need of repair. In my seventh consulship I [re]built the Flaminian 
Way to Ariminum, and all the bridges except the Mulvian and the 
Minucian. 

^ I.e. Julius Caesar, the adoptive father of Augustus. The Roman basilica was 
a hall used {ox courts of justice and for mercantile business. It was built in imi- 
tation of the Basilica (" Royal House ") at Athens. The latter was a hall of 
columns in which the hasileus (king archon) held office. In Christian times the 
name came to be applied to a church built in imitation of the Roman basilica. 
2C 



386 



The Julian Emperors 



" Upon private ground I have built with the spoils of war the 
temple of Mars the Avenger and the Augustan Forum." ' The 
Mars of this temple was not to be the god of conquest ; his function, 
rather, was to punish foreign powers which disturbed the peace of the 
empire. The Pantheon, which means the " all-divine," is a famous 
building generally attributed to Agrippa, the emperor's ablest minis- 
ter. In it men worshipped Mars and Venus, the chief gods of the 
Julian family. It still stands well preserved in what was once the 
Campus Martins, and is now used as a Christian church. The tem- 
ple is circular and is covered by a most magnificent dome. The 




CNQRAVtO D¥ BOflMAY & 



TiiK Sacred Way 



a. ir. i!o(.>rJ, Dti, 



spectator who stands within this rotunda cannot fiiil to see in it an 
emblem of the vast and durable power of Rome. At the close of his 
reign Augustus could boast that he had found Rome of brick but left 
it of marble. 

310. Literature and Religion. — Augustus encouraged and aided 
literary men. Through their works he aimed to purify and to en- 
noble the present by bringing it the life of the good and great past. 
Liv^y, the most eminent author of prose in this age, wrote a history 
of Rome in a hundred and forty-two books. In preparing this work 
ho took no pains to discover tlie truth, but relied wholly on earlier 
writers of annals. lie was lacking, too, in depth and in that knowl- 
^ Augustus, Deeds, xx, xxi. 



I 



Lit ci'tit lire 



3^7 



edge of military affairs and of law which was essential to the historian 
of Rome. 13iit he loved what he believed to be true and right. The 
story of Rome, as he tells it, is always lively, vivid, and interesting. 

In several ways Fcv'i,-//, the poet, resembled Livy. l^oth com- 
posed in a lofty style with high moral aims. Inspired by the 
greatness of Rome, both 
were intensely patriotic, 
and expressed more 
perfectly than any other 
writers the ideals of their 
nation. The poet's 
narrative is as lively and 
as dramatic as the his- 
torian's. Vergil is grace- 
ful, tender, and childlike. 
His principal work is 
an epic poem called the 
Ae-ne'id. In this story 
of the wanderings of 
Aeneas, he glorifies the 
beginnings of Rome and, 
at the same time, the 
imperial family, which 
claimed descent from 
the hero of his poem. 

Horace', author of Odes and Sa/ires and of Epistles in verse, was 
the poet of contentment and common sense, who bade his friends — 

" Snatch gayly the joys which the moment shall Ining, 
And away every care and perplexity fling." ^ 

Leave the future to the gods, he taught. A comfortable villa, 
some shady nook in summer, and in winter a roaring fireplace, good 
wine, pleasant friends, and a mind free from care make an ideal 

1 Odes, iii. S. 




Vergil 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



388 



TJic Julian Emperors 



life. After the stormy end of the repubhc, the world needed such 
a lesson. 

In the later rei)ul)lic, Roman society forgot the gods and lost its 
morals. Augustus restored the ancient ceremonies of worship which 
had fallen into disuse, and attempted to lead the people back to 
the old religion and to the pure, simple life of the ancestors who 
had made the city great. Julius had been deified after his death, 




For (U'tHlU of Ihr Forum ■ mu, 

•iiJ violiilly. H.o|.lniior ^vV 

tlu' Siicrotl Wuy, |j|>eo. 234 



ENQRAVEO QY DURMA 



iMi'ERiAL Rome 



I 



and this example was followed in the case of nearly all the other 
emperors, Augustus came near to divinity even in Rome, while the 
provincials built temples in which they sacrificed to him as to a god. 
In fact the worship of the emperor was to be the most vital force in 
the religion of the Roman world till the adoption of Christianity. 
" He is the paternal Zeus and the saviour of the whole race of man, 
who fulfils all prayers, even more than is asked. For land and sea 
enjoy peace ; cities flourish ; everywhere are harmony and prosperity 



Tiberitis 389 

and happiness." ^ Three times in his reign he closed the doors of 
the temple of Janus as a sign of peace throughout the empire. In 
one of these intervals of quiet there was born in Judea the Christ, 
who was to give the world new spiritual life and an ideal of perfect 
manhood. 

311. Tiberius Emperor (14-37 A.D.). — Augustus died in 14 a.d., 
after forty-five years of rule. His wife Livia, who had been his 
strong support during life, secured to her son Tiberius the peaceful 
succession.^ 

Immediately after the accession of Tiberius the armies on the 
Danube and the Rhine mutinied, in the hope of gaining some re- 
ward for a promise of devotion to the new emperor. P'ortunately 
the generals proved loyal and with difficulty suppressed the out- 
break. The emperor's nephew Ger-man'i-cus, who commanded on 
the Rhine, then led his army across the river and avenged the 
defeat of Varus. But as Augustus in his will had advised his suc- 
cessors not to extend the boundaries of the empire, Tiberius re- 
called his nephew from Germany. 

No important war disturbed the remainder of his reign ; he 
devoted himself, therefore, to administrative work, in which he 
showed marked ability. " He was careful not to distress the prov- 
inces by new burdens, and to see that in bearing the old they were 
safe from the rapacity of their governors."'' By rebuilding twelve 
cities of Asia Minor which had been destroyed by earthquakes, he 
taught the Romans that they had duties as well as privileges in 
their relations with the provinces. There is no wonder, then, that 
the subject nations respected him. 

But the populace disliked him because he fed them poorly and 
provided no shows of gladiators. The nobles, who longed for a 
return of the republic, naturally hated him still more. Consjjiracies 
became so common that he began rigorously to enforce the law of 

1 From an inscription found in Asia Minor. 2 § -joy, n. x, 

'^ Tacitus, Annals, iv. 6. 



390 TJic Juliaii Emperors 

treason and to encourage dc-la'tors (informers) to bring accusationSo 
Not only the suspicious temper of the prince but also the moral 
degradation of society made the delations terrible. Greed, hatred, 
enjoyment of bloodshed, — in brief, all vicious and criminal pas- 
sions, — were at their height under the early empire. No one felt 
safe ; for each rightly judged his neighbor by himself ; and the 
emperor could hardly restrain the senate from condemning men 
for the most trivial offences. 

312. Capri; the Character and Death of Tiberius (37 A.D.). — 
The first half of his reign he passed in Rome, the remainder in 
Cap'ri, a lovely island off the Bay of Naples. From this retreat he 
still watched over the government, while he left the direct manage- 
ment to Se-ja'nus, ])refect of the pretorian guard. This man, too, 
conspired against the emperor, and suffered death for his treason. 

Tiberius grew more and more hateful to the nobility and to the 
Roman mob. Not that he was especially cruel or vicious ; he seems 
rather to have been a stern, unsympathetic man, whose motives the 
nobles did not. wish to understand. He was unsocial, tactless, and 
economical, — qualities which would have made any emperor unpop- 
ular. Notwithstanding his faults, ' he was an able, conscientious 
ruler. 

The reign of the next emperor, Ca-lig'u-la (37-41 a.d.), nephew 
of Germanicus and adopted son of Tiberius, was of little importance. 

Beginning with Julius Caesar, each emperor thus flir had adopted 
his successor. Although with the death of Caligula the rule passed 
to another family,^ the name Caesar continued as an imperial title, 
and has even descended to the monarchs of two great modern states.- 

1 From the adoptive family of Tiberias and Caligula to the family of their birth 
— from the Julian to the Claudian. 

^ The Czar of Russia and the Kaiser of Germany. 




« fs 



Caligula 



391 



Topics for Reading 

I. Life and Achievements of Augustus. — Botsford, Story 0/ Rome, ch. ix; 
Merivale, Roman Triumvirates, pp. 185-232; Capes, Early Empire, ch. i; 
Allcroft and Haydon, Early Principate, chs. i-vi. 

II. Tiberius. — Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. ix; Allcroft and Haydon, chs. 
viii-x; Duruy, History of Rome, iv. pp. 401-494. 

III. Vergil. — Mackail, Latin Literature, pp. 91-105; Cruttwell, Roman Lit- 
erature, pp. 252-275; Tyrrell, Latin Poetry, ch. v. 

IV. Livy. — Mackail, pp. 145-155; Cruttwell, pp. 322-331; Simcox, Latin 
Literature, i. pp. 384-415. 




Venus 
(National Museum, Naples) 



CHAPTER X 



THE CLAUDIAN AND THE FLAVIAN EMPERORS (41-96 a.d.) 

From Dyarchy to Monarchy 

313. Claudius Emperor (41-54 A.D.). — The senate would have 
had the imperial government end with the Julian line; but while it 

was discussing the situation 
the pretorians made a new 
prince. Their nominee 
was Claudius, uncle of 
Caligula. Grotesque in 
manners and lacking mental 
balance, he was generally 
considered a learned fool. 
We are surprised, therefore, 
to find him making his 
reign the beginning of a 
new era. 

Breaking with the policy 
of Augustus, he bestowed 
the Roman citizenship 
freely upon provincials. 
Thus he began the process 
of making the provinces 
equal with Italy and Rome. 
Ci.Aunus And in appointing govern- 

(National Museum, Naples) ors of provinces, he used 

to say, " Do not thank me, for I do you no favor, but call you to 
share with me the burdens of government ; and I shall thank you 

392 




Longitude iq" Wi 



Loiigituiic •>()= 




AUGUSTUS to DIOCLETIAN 



\=¥- 



SCALE OF MILES 



100 50 100 200 300 400 60O 

■I — ■"■ Boiindarj- at Death of Augustus; 
Beyond this the later additions. 
.Italics,- Barbarian races which, after Marcus 
Aurelius. appear in the places indicated. 



For Chapters X • Xt 
For Kome see paje - 



Nero 393 

if you fulfil your duly well." ' Mingled with this generosity and 
wisdom, was firmness in punishing offenders and in protecting the 
frontiers. One of his generals conquered southern Ikitain and made 
of it a Roman province. 

His kindly temper shows itself in a law for the protection of sick 
and aged slaves from cruel treatment, and in his efforts to prevent 
famine in Rome. To supjjly the city with pure water, he built two 
magnificent aqueducts, one of which was the famous Claudia. Later 
emperors continued to buiUl aqueducts, till all of them together 
poured into Rome more fresh water each day than the Tiber now 
empties into the sea. 

Notwithstanding many plots against his life, he would have no 
informers or law of treason, but preferred to surround himself with 
soldiers, who even waited on his table, and accompanied him into 
the senate-house. Distrusting the nobles and the knights, he 
employed his own freedmen^ as helpers and ministers. In this way 
and in others he attempted to make himself independent of the sen- 
ate. Thus the balance of power between the senate and the prince 
was turning decidedly in favor of the latter. In other words, the 
dyarchy was developing into a monarchy. 

314. Nero Emperor (54-68 A.D.). — His successor was Nero, the 
son of his wife A-grip-pi'na by a former marriage. As the new em- 
peror was only seventeen years of age and showed more taste for 
dancing and music than for official work, the government for the first 
ten years of his reign was in the hands of Sen'e-ca, his tutor, and 
JUir'rus, pretorian prefect. Both were able men. 

Seneca, a Spaniard by birth, was a philosopher of the Stoic school, 
which taught that virtue alone is sufficient for happiness, and that a 
man should rise above all passions and follow his reason. Man, it 
asserted, is lord of his own life and may end it when he thinks fit. 
This severe, practical philosophy suited well the character of the 
Romans. From the later republic to the adoption of Christianity, 
1 Dio Cassius Ix. 11. 2 g ■j55^ 



394 



TJie Claudian and the Flavian Emperors 



many found in it a guide to self-discipline. Although Seneca lacked 
moral force, his intentions were good. Under him and Burrus the 
provinces were well governed ; and a law of theirs permitted ill- 
treated slaves throughout the empire to bring their complaints before 




AcRirpiNA — Mother ok Nkro 
(National Museum, Naples) 

the magistrates. This provision marks a great advance in the im- 
provement of mankind. 

Burrus died in 62 a.d., and as Nero began to take the government 
into his own hands, Seneca retired to private life. Accused of shar- 
ing in a conspiracy, he killed himself by order of the emperor. The 
men of this age did not hesitate to die, but they knew not how to 



i 



Vespasian 395 

live and fight for freedom and principle. By recommending suicide, 
Stoicism aided tyranny. 

The personal rule of Nero was a capricious despotism. But though 
he was vain and extravagant, his acts of cruelty were few. When a 
great fire destroyed the larger part of Rome, he sheltered and fed the 
sufferers, and helped rebuild their houses. The worst blot on his 
reign was the persecution of the Christians on the groundless suspi- 
cion that they had caused the mischief. Many were condemned. 
" Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with 
the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were 
nailed to crosses, or were doomed to flames and burned to serve as 
a nightly illumination " ^ of the prince's gardens. The Romans, who 
as yet knew little of the Christians, considered them a sect of Jews, 
and despised them because they then belonged to the lowest class 
of society. Nero's persecution, however, was only a sudden outburst 
of ferocity which did not extend beyond the city. 

But at last his tyranny reached the provinces and stirred up revolt. 
Gal'ba, governor of Hither Spain, was proclaimed emperor. Nero 
fled from the city and took refuge in a dingy cell provided by a freed- 
man. A few attendants stood about him. " Some one show me how 
to die," he begged, but no one obeyed. The end was drawing near. 
The senate had declared him a public enemy, and he heard the 
tramp of approaching horses. " Pity that such an artist should die ! " 
he said as he stabbed himself. 

315. Vespasian Emperor (69-79 A.D.). — Galba was followed by 
O'tho, and Otho by Vi-tel'li-us. These three princes together 
reigned about a year. Otho was killed by the .pretorians, and the 
other two in civil war. Then Ves-pa'si-an became emperor. He 
was a short, stumpy man.^with large neck and hooked nose. Though 
a plebeian by birth, he was broad-minded, able, and experienced in 
public affairs. 

^ Tacitus, Annals, xv. 44. Nero was himself suspected of having set fire to 
the city, but with little reason. 



396 



TJic Claudian and the Flavian Emperors 



Among the many difficulties he had to meet on his accession the 
most serious was a ;rz'<?// ^///^y^7£',f. His son Titus besieged Jeru- 
salem, their strongly fortified capital. As they refused to accept any 
terms offered them, no quarter was thereafter given. It was a war to 
death. The Jews believed that God would protect His holy temple, 
and that at the critical moment the Mes-si'ah would come to save His 
people from the oppressor and to make them rulers of the world. 
They fought therefore with fanatic zeal, and as famine threatened 
they even ate human flesh. When, after a five months' siege, the 




The Colosseum or Flavian Amphitheatre 

Romans stormed the city and the temple, the Jews killed their wives, 
their children, and then one another as the lot determined, so that the 
victors found nothing but flames and death. More than a million 
Jews were destroyed during the siege ; not a hundred thousand 
were taken captive (70 a.d.). 

As the 7}obles and the knights were dying out, Vespasian recruited 
their ranks with new families from Italy and the provinces, — the 
best and the most loyal he could find. Looking upon the emperor 
as their patron, these provincials generally supported him. Hence 
the imperial government became more solidly established, and fewer 
conspiracies threatened it. During the late republic and early empire 



Titus '>^(^y 

the society of Rome had been vicious and depraved ; but the new 
families brought to the capital wholesome ideas and better morals. 
In fact their coming was the regeneration of Rome. 

To repair the fortifications and other public works, which had long 
been neglected, Vespasian found it necessary to increase ihe taxes. 
But with careful management he had money left for education, for the 
help of unfortunate cities in the provinces, and for new buildings. 
The most famous of his works is an immense amphitheatre, usually 
known as the Col-os-se'um. It is said to have seated eighty-seven 
thousand spectators, and is the grandest building in Rome. In it the 





siwf:^^^"' " '^ 


B 




^«^4p^ - ■*>iiitf«' miSBsmk.-oisis' ■■ 


- --xm 









A Body found in Pompeh 
(Museum of Pompeii) 

Romans gathered to see the combats of gladiators, and of men and 
savage beasts. As he died before completing the work, it was finished 
by Titus. 

316. Titus Emperor (79-81 A.D.). — Titus succeeded his father. 
His kindness toward citizens and subjects alike made him the most 
popular of the emperors, " the delight and the darling of mankind.'' 
Once at supper, remembering that he had favored no one during the 
day, he exclaimed, " My friends, I have lost a day ! " As chief pon- 
tiff he thought it his duty to keep his hands pure ; and accordingly 
after accepting that office he would condemn no man to death, how- 
ever great might be the offence. In fact he was too indulgent 



398 TJie Claudiaji and the Flavian Emperors 

to be just ; this easy temper made his successor's task more 
difficult. 

The chief event in his reign was an eruption of Ve-su'vi-iis. For 
ages this volcano had been inactive, so that the Campanians had 
fearlessly covered its sides with vineyards. But in 79 a.d. a fearful 
eruption buried Pom-pei'i, a city of twenty thousand inhabitants, 
Her-cu-la'ne-um, and some smaller places. After eighteen centuries 
Pompeii has been unearthed. Its temples, shops, and dwellings, with 
their statues, wall-paintings, furniture, and tools, make real to us the 
life and civilization of the ancients. 

317. Domitian Emperor (81-96 A.D.). — After ruling but two 
years Titus died and was succeeded by Do-mi'ti-an, his younger 
brother. Though the empire was rarely at peace, the reign of 
Domitian is especially noted for wars along the northern frontier. 
A-gric'o-la, an able general, extended the boundary of the province 
of Britain to Cal-e-do'ni-a, the modern Scotland. The emperor 
himself took the field against the Germans. Still later the Da'ci- 
ans, who lived north of the Danube and who were fast adopting 
Roman civilization, invaded the empire. In his war with them 
Domitian met with so little success that he granted them favorable 
terms of peace, and gave their chief valuable presents, which the 
enemies of the prince maliciously termed tribute. 

Domitian was 2, firm ruler. Able men commanded on the frontier, 
and the provinces were probably never better ruled than under him. 
An autocrat by nature, he tried to gain entire control of the govern- 
ment and to put the senate beneath him. The discovery of a 
conspiracy in which many senators shared inflamed him against 
them. From that time to his death he was a terror to the nobility.J 
But at last a plot developed in his own household. His wife Domitia, 
fearing for her own safety, induced some servants and pretorians to 
murder him. 

" Like their god Janus, the Roman emperors have a double face." 
In estimating their character we must bear in mind that the one 



Literature 399 

most hateful to the nobihty was often the most just and merciful 
protector of the provinces. So it was with Domitian. The aristo- 
cratic historian has branded him a tyrant ; if the subject nations 
could speak, they would bless his memory. 

318. Literature under the Claudian and Flavian Emperors (41-96 
A.D.). — After the reign of Augustus hterature declined. Most 
writers, considering a simple style insipid, sought to attract attention 
by rhetorical bombast, far-fetched metaphors, and other unnatural 
devices. 

Seneca, the philosopher, shared with his age the striving after 
brilliancy in language. Nevertheless he gives evidence of the 
broader, deeper thought which the provinces were bringing Rome. 
A great improvement in this direction came with the Flavian princes, 
who patronized hterature and introduced fresh life from the prov- 
inces. In this age Plin'y the Elder wrote a Natural History in 
thirty-seven books. In addition to the natural sciences, it included 
geography, medicine, and art. What Pliny did for science Quin- 
til'i-an, a native of Spain, achieved for rhetoric. His Training of the 
Orator, in twelve books, gives a complete course in rhetoric, 
beginning with the boy and ending with the well-equipped public 
speaker. The work is valuable, not only for the famous author's 
principles of rhetoric, but also for his opinions of the leading Greek 
and Latin writers. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Claudius. — Botsford, Story of Rome, ch. x; Capes, Early Empire, ch. 
iv; AUcroft and Haydon, Early Principate, ch. xii; Duruy, History of Rome, iv. 
pp. 514-570. 

II. The Burning of Rome and the Christians. — Botsford, Story of Rome, 
ch. x; Duruy, History of Rome, v. pp. l-l6. 

III. The Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem. — Botsford, Story 
of Rome, ch. x; Capes, pp. 152-156; Allcroft and Haydon, ch. xvii; Duruy, 
History of Rome, v. pp. 108-133. 



CHAPTER XI 



THE PIVE GOOD EMPERORS (96-180 a.d.) 

The Limited Monarchy 

319. Nerva Emperor (96-98 A.D.). — As soon as the senate 
heartl of the death of Domitian, it appointed as prince one of its 

members named Ner'va, who was about 
sixty-five years old, and whose hfe had 
been blameless. The senate now be- 
came reconciled to the imperial form 
of government, and received from the 
new emperor assurances that it should 
have a fair share of influence and power. 
This happy agreement resulted in an 
era of good feeling which lasted through 
five successive reigns. Nerva put an 
end to the law of treason, which Do- 
mitian had revived. He then advised 
his subjects to forget past wrongs in 
the happy present. But like Titus 
he was too amiable to be a just and 
vigorous ruler. When he found him- 
self unable to control the pretorians, 
he adopted as his son and successor the 
able general Tra'jan, then commander 
in Upper Germany, a province on the 
Rhine. 

320. Trajan Emperor (98-117 
A.D.) ; his Wars. — On the death of 
Nerva, Trajan became emperor. He was born in Spain, and was 

400 




Nerva in his Consular Roue 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Trajan 



401 



therefore the first provincial emperor. In contrast, too, with the 
earlier emperors, who were uniformly peaceful, Trajan was ambitious 
for conquest. In two wars he subdued Dacia, a great country north 
of the Danube, and converted it into a Roman province a thou- 
sand miles in circuit. The work of settlement followed rapidly upon 
the conquest. 
While the emperor 
found land here 
for his veterans, 
other colonists 
poured into the 
province from 
various parts of the 
empire. En- 

gineers, architects, 
and workmen built 
roads and fortres- 
ses. Miners found 
iron and gold in 
the mountains. 
The province soon 
became thorough- 
ly Roman in char- 
a c t e r, Trajan's 
column still stands 
in Rome as a 
memorial of this 
conquest. 

A few years 
afterward the em- 




The Column of Trajan 



peror attempted the conquest of the East. One of his generals had 
already made a province of north-western Arabia. Trajan himself 
took the field against the Parthians. He drove them from Armenia, 

2D 



402 



The Five Good Emperors 



where they were trying to set up a vassal king. After converting the 
country into a Roman province, he marched through the Parthian 
empire as far as the 'J'igris River. Then he followed the river to the 
Persian Gulf. Meantime the provinces he had hastily established 
about the Tigris and luiphrates fell to pieces, and their population 
rose against him. His return march, in which he pretended to sup- 
press the revolt, was in fact 
a disastrous retreat. He 
died in Cilicia on his way to 
Runic. 

321. His Administration. 
— We shall now return to 
his administration. Follow- 
ing Nerva's policy, he treated 
the senators as his equals, 
and introduced the ballot, 
that they might feel perfectly 
free in voting. \\\\\. though 
they talked much, the em- 
peror granted them less 
actual power than they had 
enjoyed under Augustus. 
The consuls, too, had lost 
much of their importance, 
as their term had been grad- 
ually reduced to two months. 
The monarchy was still growing at the expense of the republican 
institutions. 

This increasing power of the emperor appeared in Italy and in the 
provinces as well as in Rome. Wiien the finances of a town fell into 
disorder, Trajan would send it an agent to control its accounts. 
Such an imperial officer gradually usurped authority until, after a 
century or two, he deprived the town of self-government. In Tra- 




ri.UTINA, WUK Ol'' TKAJAN 

(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



Hadrian 403 

jail's time, however, the insUtiilion was fjniy heljjfiil. 'J'o recruit 
the wasting iJOjMilatifjn of Italy, 'I'rajan lent the towns considerable 
money which they were to invest on the security of land, that they 
might have the interest to use for the support and education of poor 
children. At one time in his reign we find the towns providing thus 
for five thousand children. Though the avowed object was to rear 
soldiers for the armies, the institution was humane ; we see in it a 
sign of the moral improvement of mankind. 

Trajan encouraged wealthy men over all the empire to will prop- 
erty to their towns to be used for public works. Accorrlingly in 
every part of what was once the Koman world the traveller now 
finds the ruins of bridges, aqueducts, and public buildings which 
date from this prosperous era. Although the emperor aided such 
works, the provinces, the towns, and private persons furnished the 
greater share of the cost. 

His administration was energetic, just, and humane. He had the 
strength to punish evil-doers ; he repealed oppressive taxes ; and 
costly as were his wars and his jjublic buildings, he laid no new 
burdens on his peoj^le. His wife Plo-ti'na was as frugal anrl as 
thrifty as he. Like Livia, she was the emperor's able helper, and 
when he died, her tact brought to the throne the man who had 
stood highest in her husband's favor. 

322. Hadrian Emperor (117-138 A.D.). — The heir was Ha'dri-an, 
a general and provincial governor of great ability and a scholar. 
Two-thirds of his reign he spent in travelling through the provinces. 
His first object was to cultivate friendship with the border nations. 
And to maintain peace without increasing the army, he found it 
necessary to abandon all his predecessor's conquests excejjting Dacia 
and Arabia. 

Another object was to improve the arinies and the froniier defences. 
He banished harmful pleasures from the camps ; he dismissed boy 
officers, who had received appointments through favoritism ; and, in 
his own words, he restored " the discipline of Augustus." Under 



404 



The Five Good Emperors 



him the armies were so well exercised and trained that they could 
perform wonderful labors in marching and in building. Among his 
frontier defences the best known is the so-called Wall of Hadrian, 
which extends across northern Britain from near the mouth of the 
Tyne to Solway Firth. It consisted of two parallel moats and 
walls strengthened by a series of turrets, castles, and camps. 
Equally important was his completion of the defences between the 
Rhine and the Danube. By such fortifications as well as by his 




The Tomb of Hadrian 
(The Tiber in the foreground) 

military reforms, he gave the empire new strength for resisting the 
assaults of the barbarians. 

Throughout the empire he built temples, theatres, and aqueducts. 
Finally by devoting so much of his time to the provinces, he showed 
clearly that he considered them more important even than Rome 
and Italy. 

The amount of public business in the hands of the prince had 



The Antonines 405 

greatly increased since Augustus. Before Hadrian the members of 
the emperor's household and occasionally knights had helped in this 
work without being recognized as public officials. To him, however, 
is chiefly due the creation of a civil service, — a complex system of 
offices, with special functions for each, and with regular promotions 
from the lowest to the highest. The knights alone were employed 
in these duties. The emperor needed especially a great number of 
revenue officials, for he had abolished the farming of taxes and had 
undertaken to collect them directly. Remitting all taxes due on his 
accession, he pubhcly burned the old accounts. 

By his thorough reforms he put the machinery of government, as 
well as the military system, in such good order that it continued to 
run with little repair for more than a hundred years. 

323. Antoninus Pius Emperor (138-161 A.D.). — An-to-ni'nus, 
surnamed Pius, the heir of Hadrian, was a man of estimable character 
who loved justice and peace. His reign is noted for humane legisla- 
tion. Especially he Hmited the right of the master to torture his 
slaves for the purpose of extorting evidence ; and he originated the 
legal principle on which all trials are now conducted throughout the 
civihzed world, that an accused person should be considered inno- 
cent till proved guilty. Enlarging on the charitable policy of Tra- 
jan, he set aside an endowment for orphan girls, whom he called 
Faus-tin-i-a'nae, after his wife Faus-ti'na. His long reign, unmarked 
by events, was prosperous and happy. 

324. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Emperor (161-180A.D.). — When 
he died the imperial powers passed to Marcus Au-re'li-us, his 
adopted son. This emperor associated with himself as colleague 
Lucius Ve'rus, his brother by adoption; so that Rome was ruled for 
a time by two Augusti. Verus sought only pleasure ; Aurelius was a 
Stoic philosopher, whose chief aim was to do his duty toward his 
fellow-men. But he had little time to give to books and meditation ; 
for the easy disposition of his predecessor had left him a great legacy 
of troubles. On his accession, he found war brewing along the 



4o6 



Tlie Five Good Emperors 



northern and eastern frontiers. The troops of Syria had grown 
too effeminate to resist the invading Parthians; but fortunately there 
were good generals in the East, the ablest of whom was A-vid'i-us 
Cassius. A Syrian by birth, but of the old Roman type of severity, 
he put the licentious troops on coarse rations, burned the dis- 




Marcus Aurelius in his Triumphal Car 
(Palace of the Conservatori, Rome) 

obedient, and restored discipline. He defeated the Parthians, over- 
ran their country, and compelled them to sue for peace. Rome 
retained a part of Mes-o-po-ta'mi-a. 

Meantime a fearful pestilence was raging in the East ; and as the 
troops returned from the war, they spread the disease over the eastern 



CJiristianity 407 

half of the empire and over Italy itself. It weakened the army ; in 
some places, as in Italy, it carried off perhaps half the population ; 
and the efforts to relieve it so drained the treasury that the prince 
lacked funds for the defence of the empire. The enemies of Rome 
were growing formidable. All Europe beyond the frontier was full 
of restless tribes, which threatened the civilized countries of the 
Mediterranean. The Parthian war was scarcely over when they 
broke into the empire in a continuous line from northern Italy to 
the farthest limits of Dacia. The leaders were the Mar-co-man'ni, 
a powerful Teutonic nation who lived in what is now Bo-he 'mi-a, and 
who gave their name to the war. 

. Both emperors took the field, and when Verus died in the follow- 
ing year, Aurehus continued the war alone. After seven years of 
hard fighting he won an honorable peace, which, however, was 
broken while he was engaged in putting down a revolt of Avidius 
Cassius in the East. As soon as he had finished this work, he re- 
turned to the Danube, and reconquered the Marcomanni. He was 
about to make their country into a province when death cut short 
his work. 

In his administration he followed the lines marked out by his prede- 
cessor. Especially interesting is his treatment of the Christians. 

325. Christianity and the Empire (to 180 A.D.). — Christianity 
arose in Judea, but St. Peter carried it early to the " Gentiles," and 
St. Paul preached it even in Rome. Everywhere the lower classes 
eagerly accepted a faith which esteemed the slave equal to the 
emperor. Under this dispensation the humblest on earth were the 
greatest saints, and all who shared in it enjoyed the comforting hope 
of eternal happiness. 

During the first century of our era, the followers of Christ attracted 
little attention. The learned and the powerful alike considered them 
unworthy of notice, and the government, which protected the public 
worship of all the races within the empire, and adopted many of 
their gods as her own, included the Christians with the Jews. Under 



408 TJie Five Good Emperors 

the good emperors, however, as the Church grew more numerous and 
powerful, it began to appear a menace to existing society and govern- 
ment. Unlike the Romans, the Christians were intolerant of all 
other forms of religion and exceedingly aggressive in making new 
converts ; for they were under a commandment to bring the whole 
world into their faith. To keep themselves free from idolatry they 
refused to associate with others in social and public festivities, an 
attitude which won for them the evil name of "haters of mankind." 
In like manner their refusal to worship the Genius, or guardian spirit, 
of the emperor was naturally construed as impiety and treason. The 
government, always suspicious of secret meetings, could see nothing 
but danger in those of the Christians, whose church was, in fact, a 
great secret society with branches in every city and town. A class 
of people, too, who objected to military service seemed useless to the 
state. These were the chief reasons why they were persecuted. 

The civil authorities throughout the empire proceeded, accordingly, 
to punish tiie Christians for real or imaginary offences against law 
and order. We find Trajan, however, giving instructions not to hunt 
them down or to receive anonymous charges against them, but to 
condemn those only who were openly known as Christians. Milder 
treatment no one could expect. Hadrian discouraged persecution, 
and made informers responsible for any outbreaks their accusations 
might cause. His successor, the gentle Antoninus Pius, though a 
restorer of the ancient religion, himself persecuted no one. Never- 
theless in his reign popular hatred forced the magistrates in some 
of the cities to torture and kill prominent Christians. 

Under Marcus Aurelius a change came for the worse. As popular 
dislike of the Christians excited tumults in many cities, he ordered 
those who confessed the faith to be beaten to death. This measure 
he regarded as necessary to the peace of the empire ; otherwise he 
paid the Christians little attention. Their trouble came chiefly from 
the people, who regarded them with superstitious hatred. Pestilence, 
famine, and other calamities demanded victims ; and accordingly the 



Literature 409 

mob raged at the Christians. Riots broke out against them in 
Lyons. Here as elsewhere their enemies asserted, on mere rumor, 
that in their rehgious meetings they were guilty of gross immoraUty 
and feasted on children ! One of the new faith writes, " First we 
were driven away from the baths, buildings, and all places open to 
the public ; then we had to suffer the insults, blows, and violent acts 
of an infuriated multitude." Holding the Christians responsible for 
the disturbance, the authorities began to torture them and to throw 
them to the beasts in the amphitheatre for the amusement of the 
spectators. By this means many perished. One of the number, 
Blan-di'na, a slave, who took the part of mother to her fellow-sufferers, 
is now revered in Lyons as a saint. In other places similar scenes 
were enacted. So far from helping the empire, however, or its 
decaying gods, persecution strengthened the new faith and made it 
more aggressive. 

Culture ^ 

326. Literature (96-180 A.D.). — The age of the good emperors 
produced the last great writers of classic Latin, Tac'i-tus and JuVe- 
nal. The Annals and the Histories ^ of Tacitus covered the period 
from the death of Augustus to the death of Domitian. Besides these 
larger works he wrote a monograph on the Li/e and Chat-acter of 
Agricola, the conqueror of Britain, and another, the Ger-ma' tii-a, on 
the character and institutions of the Germans of his time. His expe- 
rience as an army officer and a statesman gave him a clear under- 
standing of military and political events. He was conscientious, too, 
and we may trust his statement of all facts which were known to the 
public. His style is exceedingly rapid, vivid, and energetic. His 

1 Those teachers who wish to follow the pohtical narrative without interruption 
may omit §§ 326, 327. 

- Of the Annals we have Bks. i-iv, parts of v and vi, and xi-xvi, with gaps at 
the beginning and end of this last group of books; of the Histories there remain 
Lks. i-iv, and the first half of v. 



410 TJie Five Good Emperors 

excellences as an historian, however, are balanced by serious defects. 
He belonged to the strictest circle of aristocrats, who looked upon 
all the emperors from Tiberius to Domitian as usurpers and tyrants. 
Hence he was unfair in judging the motives of these rulers. Like 
the historian, Juvenal, author of Satires, was powerful and dra- 
matic. In the spirit of Tacitus he looked back to the society of 
Rome under Nero and Domitian, to discover in it nothing but hid- 
eous vice. But if we allow for his gross exaggeration, we shall find 
his writings a storehouse of information about the manners, customs, 
and morals of the age. 

The Letters of Pliny the Younger, a nephew of the elder Pliny, are 
valuable for the study of the times, but show a dechne in style. The 
Lives of t/ie Ccesars from Julius to Domitian, by Sue-to 'ni-us, Ha- 
drian's secretary, is a chaotic mixture of useful facts and foolish gossip. 
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is one of the best and noblest 
of books. It contains the ripest fruit of Graeco-Roman philosophy. , 

A revival of Hellenic literature in this age produced some authors 
of unusual merit. Ap'pi-an of Alexandria wrote a narrative History 
of Rome, which we find very useful. In this age, too, Pausanias 
compiled his Tour of Greece, which describes the classic monuments 
of that country. " Above all Plutarch wrote his immortal Lives, per- 
haps the most widely and permanently attractive book by one author 
known to the world." ^ While the Greeks were producing litera- 
ture, they did not neglect science. Ga'len, a physician of Marcus 
Aurelius, wrote many works on anatomy and medicine. Ptol'e-my 
pubHshed a system of astronomy, in which he represented the earth as 
the centre of the universe. His views were accepted for more than 
a thousand years, till they were superseded by those of Co-per'ni-cus 
(1473-1543 A.D.). 

327. Public Works; Sculpture and Painting. — The activity of the 
good emperors in erecting public works both at Rome and in the 
provinces has already been noticed.^ 

^ Murray, Ancient Greek Literature, p. 395 f. 2 g ^21 f. 



ArcJntecture 



411 



From early times there were Romans who busied themselves with 
sculpture and painting as well as with architecture. Few Roman 
sculptors are known to us by name, though we possess a multitude 
of their works. The reason is, that they aimed to express in bronze 
and marble the personality of others rather than of themselves. 
Among their most famous works are the busts and statues of em- 
perors, statesmen, and other eminent persons. These portrait sculp- 
tures are spirited and masterly, and so true to life that we may feel 




A Roman Bridge 
(Toledo, Spain) 

certain we know how the great men of Rome looked. Still more 
characteristic of the nation are the narrative reliefs traced on public 
buildings, triumphal arches, and columns ; they are chiselled picture- 
books of Roman marches, sieges, and victories. 

In painting the Romans surpassed the Greeks. The wall-paintings 
of Pompeii must have been largely the work of artisans rather than 
of artists ; and yet they show an endless variety of graceful forms 
wrought with great skill and many of them delicately finished. Some 



412 TJic Five Good Emperors 

are mythical scenes, others are from daily life. The painting as well 
as the architecture and sculpture of the Romans aids us greatly in 
understanding their life and character. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Prosperity of the Empire under the Antonines. — Gibbon, Decline 
and Fall of tlie Koninn Empire, ch. ii. 

II. Hadrian's Travels. — Capes, Age of the Anlonines,^)-^. 55-62; Duruy, 
History of Koine, v. pp. 344-390. 

III. Christianity and the Empire. — Capes, ch. vi : Duruy v. pp. 493-512. 

IV. Architecture. — Reber, History of Ancient Art, pp. 413-447; Hamlin, 
History of Arcliitecturc, chs. viii, ix ; Fletcher, History of Architecture, pp. 73- 
112. 

V. Sculpture. — Perry, Greek and Roinan Sculpture, chs. xlviii-lv; Mar- 
quand and Frothingham, History of Sculpture, ch. xiii; Wickhoff, Konian Ar', 
chs. ii, iii. 

VI. Painting. — Wickhoff, Roman Art, chs. iv, v; WoUmann and Woer- 
mann, History of Ancient, Early Christian, and Mediaeval Painting, pp. iio- 
142; Van Dyke, History of Painting, pp. 32-35. 

Topics iv-vi are not restricted to a special period. 




The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus 



CHAPTER XII 

FROM COMMODUS TO AURELIAN (180-284 a.d.) 
Rome begins to Decline — the Growth of Absolute Monarchy 

328. Commodus (180-193) ; the Rule of the Pretorian Guard. — 

Com'mo-dus, the son and successor of Aurelius, was a weak-minded 
young man, easily misled by vile companions. While he pursued 
base pleasures and fought wild beasts in the amphitheatre, the empire 
began to decline. The soldiers lost discipline along with their re- 
spect for their ruler. The provinces were misgoverned, and the 

413 



414 From Comniodits to Aiirelian 

capital was at the mercy of the pretorians, who were no longer 
under control. After twelve years of such government, at once 
weak and savage, Commodus was murdered. The pretoriati guard, 
established for the security of the prince,* had now grown into a 
large standing army. Gradually discovering their own importance, 
these troops lost discipline and became haughty and violent. 
They overawed the senate ; they terrorized Rome ; and the emperor 
was at their mercy. Pampered especially by Commodus, they mur- 
dered his successor, and then sold the vacant office to the highest 
bidder. When news of this disgraceful event reached the soldiers 
on the frontier, it made them indignant, for the emperor was their 
general and they were the primary source of his power."^ Accord- 
ingly the armies in Syria, on the Danube, and in Britain nominated 
their own commanders to the office of emperor, and each prepared 
to enforce its will by arms. Sep-tim'i-us Se-ve'rus, commander on 
the Danube and nearest to Rome, won the prize. 

329. Septimius Severus (i 93-211 ) ; Caracalla (211-217 A.D.). — 
Severus was a firm, clear-headed man who knew well the needs of 
the empire. He restored order in Rome, conquered and killed his 
rivals for the throne, and humbled foreign enemies. As his authority 
rested upon the armies, he did not hesitate to slight the senate. 
Under him, therefore, this body lost much of the influence it had 
enjoyed in the preceding period ; in fact his reign marks an im- 
portant step in the direction of absolute monarchy. His policy 
was supported by the lawyers who formed his council, Pa-pin'i-an, 
the ablest of Roman jurists, lived at this time, and held the office of 
pretorian prefect. Ul'pi-an was scarcely less eminent. Through 
them and their associates Roman law reached the height of 
development. 

1 § 30S. 

^ It must be borne in mind that the army had overthrown the republic, and had 
placed its general i^iniperator^ at the head of the government. The early em- 
perors found constitutional support for their authority, but in the period which 
we are now considering they were leaning more and more upon the armies. 



Scvcms 



415 



The legislation of these great jurists benefited the whole empire ; 
for even before the death of Severus most of the provincials were 
Roman citizens under the protection of Roman law. This emperor 
aimed to place- the provinces on a level with Italy. Julius Caesar 
had begun the policy of granting the citizenship freely to the pro- 
vincials ; and though Augustus preferred to keep the provinces in- 
ferior to Italy, Claudius 
zealously followed in the 
footsteps of Julius. The 
emperors after Claudius 
continued his liberal policy 
till, at the death of Severus, 
few non-citizens remained. 
Car-a-caVla, son and 
successor of Severus, com- 
pleted the work of centuries 
by makiiig all the freemen 
of the empire Romajis 
(211 A.D,). Under Seve- 
rus, however, military 
service and special taxes 
on citizens had grown 
oppressive ; and the men 
whom Caracalla made 
Romans had to take upon 
themselves the burdens of 
citizenship in addition to those they had borne as subjects. Thus 
the benefit was offset by disadvantages. In fact the author of the 
reform cared only for his soldiers ; toward all others he was recklessly 
brutal. He, too, was murdered. 

330. Alexander Severus (222-235); the New Persian Empire. — 
Passing by two emperors^ of little importance, we come to /\lex- 
1 Ma-cri'nus (217-21S) and El-a-gab'a-lus (218-222 B.C.). 




Septimius Severus 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 



4i6 



From Commodiis to Ajircliaii 



ander Severus, an amiable youth and of excellent character. Not 
only in his respect for the senate, but also in his patronage of educa- 
tion, in his attention to the needs of the poor, and in his mildness 
and justice, Alexander was a faint imitation of the good emperors. 
He was too weak, however, to maintain discipline among the soldiers 
or to defend the empire. 

In his reign a new danger to the Roman world arose in the East. 
From the time of Trajan the Parthian empire had declined. The 




SARciirnA(;is ok Alexander Severus and his Mother 
(Capitoline Museum, Rome) 

Persians, still a vigorous race, asserted their independence, and in 
227 A.D. Ar-tax-erx'es, their king, overthrew the Parthian monarch 
and made the empire Persian. He had been instructed in the reli- 
gion of Zoroaster ; ^ and the eighty thousand magians, or priests, of 
this worship supported him in his effort to put down every other form 
of religion throughout the empire. Their fervor strengthened the 
monarch and inspired him with zeal for making conquests in the 

1§28. 



Anarchy 417 

interest of his god. At the same time his talent for organization 
gave him a mihtary power which the East had not possessed for 
many generations. 

Ordered to give up his Asiatic provinces to this haughty king, 
Alexander Severus went to war, but was disgracefully beaten. Hence- 
forth the Persian empire threatened Rome ; it compelled her to 
weaken the northern defences in order to mass troops on the 
Euphrates, at a time when the German races were threatening 
invasion. 

After his conflict with Persia, Alexander took the field against the 
Germans on the Rhine. There he was murdered by his soldiers. 
The pretorian guard had already killed Ulpian, their prefect, and 
were terrorizing the government as well as the residents of Rome. 
Thus a reign, in some respects happy, ended in failure, — a pleasant 
twilight before a period of gloom. 

331. Drifting into Anarchy (235-284 A.D.). — During the half- 
century which followed the death of Alexander, the government 
suffered continual violence, as emperors rapidly rose and fell. 
Sometimes two colleagues shared in harmony the imperial office ; 
more frequently, rivals for the throne involved the empire in civil 
war ; rarely did a wearer of the purple die a natural death. About 
the middle of this period of confusion the empire seemed to be 
falling into fragments ; each army nominated its commander to the 
highest office, and these rival pretenders, wrongly numbered and 
misnamed the "Thirty Tyrants," brought the Roman world to 
anarchy. 

While civil war wasted the empire and drew the armies from the 
frontier, the enemies of Rome met with their first real success in 
assailing her. On the north the Goths, a German race, after plun- 
dering Moe'si-a and Macedonia, defeated and killed the emperor 
Decius (268 A.D.). At nearly the same time their western kinsmen, 
the Franks on the lower Rhine, pushed across the boundary and 
desolated Gaul. Soon afterward. King Sa'por, the energetic son of 

2E 



4i8 



From Commodus to Aiirelian 



Artaxerxes, took the emperor Va-le'ri-an captive. The civilized 
world seemed defenceless. The Al-e-man'ni, of Germanic race, 
flung themselves upon northern Italy, and in combination with 
them a vast horde of Goths, including women and children, crossed 
the Danube to seek homes within the provinces. Fortunately at 
this crisis Rome found an able ruler in Marcus Aurelius Claudius 




The Wall of Aurelian 

(268-270 A.D.), who drove back the Alemanni and destroyed the 
invading host of Goths. 

His successor, Au-re'li-ati (270-275 a.d.), withdrew the last 
garrisons from Dacia, — which he gave over to the Goths, — and 
brought the boundary once more to the Danube. This was the 
first territory lost to the empire. As the barbarians began to 
threaten the capital itself, he surrounded it with a wall, which is 
still standing, — a magnificent work, yet a monument of the weak- 
ness and decay of Rome. Two great fragments had recently broken 
from the empire : in the East, Queen Ze-no'bi-a, from her splendid 



Aurelian 



419 



court in Pal-my'ra, ruled Syria, Egypt, and a large part of Asia 
Minor ; in the West, the senator Tet'ri-cus was emperor of Gaul, 
Britain, and northern Spain. By conquering both these pretenders, 
however, Aurelian restored the unity of the Roman world. These 
achievements brought the empire to a condition which enabled it 
to endure for a few more years, till Di-o-cle'ti-an, a still abler man, 
put on the purple. 

Topics for Reading 

Septimius Severus. — Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. v; 
Duruy, History of Rome, vi. pp. 476-577; see Indices of other iiistories of Rome. 




A Capital from One of the Temples in Palmyra 
(Temple ruins in the background) 



CHAPTER XIII 

FROM DIOCLETIAN TO CONSTANTINE (284-337 a.d.) 
Reconstruction of the Empire — Absolute Monarchy 

332. Diocletian (284-305 A.D.). — A freedman's son and a soldier 
by profession, Diocletian made his way to the imperial ofifice by 
genius and force of will. He devoted twenty-one laborious years to 
the work of reorganizing and strengthening the empire. 

He first chose as colleague Max-im'i-an, a rough but able soldier. 
Although each emperor bore the title Augustus, Diocletian remained 
superior. They divided the Roman world between them, Diocletian 
taking the East and his colleague the West. Later two Caesars, 
Ga-le'ri-us and Con-stan'ti-us Chlo'rus, were appointed as heirs of 
the Augusti. Each of the Caesars received likewise the administra- 
tion of a definite territory. Retaining the extreme East for himself, 
Diocletian gave Galerius the provinces on and near the Danubian 
boundary ; Maximian governed Italy, Africa, and Spain ; and Con- 
stantius,Gaul and Britain. Thus the most dangerous and laborious 
posts were assigned to the Caesars. 

Each 1 of the four rulers chose a convenient city for his capital and appointed a 
pretorian prefect to aid him in administering the civil affairs of his district, which 
was named therefore a prefecture. They divided the four great prefectures into 
twelve dioceses, which they placed under vicegerents. The dioceses consisted 
each of several small provinces, of which there were now more than a hundred in 
all. The provinces had their governors, who in turn commanded the service of 
a host of lower officials. As a rule the provincial governors obeyed the vicegerents, 
who received their orders from the prefects, each of whom, in turn, was under a 
Caesar or an Augustus. Military and civil duties were now distinct. Correspond- 

1 § 78, n. 2. 
420 





^ 




'^ 


AsA 


?~ft~Wi 




J'y.'f 


\ '^ 








^ 


fi^^ 


^P /-" 


^-J^ 


feJl7L> 


^ 


^ / 




^^s- 




Diocletian 



421 



ing with the civil offices just mentioned were masters of troops, dukes, counts, and 
lesser military officials. The nobles who filled the higher civil and military posi- 
tions were the Honorable, the Respectable, and the Illustrious. Above the Illus- 
trious was the rank of Caesar, and highest of all, Augustus was Most Sacred Lord. 
The latter wore a crown and a silken robe which sparkled with jewels and gold, 
lie claimed to be a god, and compelled his subjects to prostrate themselves before 
him. In this way he aimed to place his authority on the basis of divine right. 
All parts of the empire were now politically equal. As Rome ceased to be the 
capital, the senate became a city council, and Italy was divided into provinces. 




The Triumphal Arch of Constantine 



The new organization of the Roman government and society here outlined was 
mainly the work of Diocletian, though it began before him and received additional 
touches later from Con'stan-tine the Great. 

The empire was enjoying peace and good order in 305 a.d., when 
Diocletian resigned his authority and compelled Maximian, his col- 
league, to do the same. Thereupon the two Caesars became Augusti, 
and new Caesars were appointed to take the place of the old. Im- 
mediately Diocletian's system, in most respects admirable, proved 



422 From Diocletian to Constantine 

defective in the provision for the succession. It appeared, too, that 
the senior Augustus lacked the means of holding his colleague and 
the Caesars to their respective duties. These high magistrates, 
together with other aspirants for power who arose from time to 
time, involved the Roman world in civil wars, till Constantine, known 
to history as the Great, the son of Constantius Chlorus, became 
emperor of the West and Licinius of the East (312 and 313 a.d.). 

333. Constantine sole Emperor (323-337 A.D.) ; Christianity. 
— A few years afterward Constantine put his colleague to death 
and became sole emperor (323 a.d.). His reign was marked by two 
important events, — the public recognition of Christianity, and the 
selection of Byzantium as the capital of the empire. 

Notwithstanding all opposition the Church had grown rapidly since 
Marcus Aurelius. The last and severest persecution began under 
Diocletian and was carried on by Galerius, his successor in the East. 
When at length Galerius saw that he could by no means destroy the 
Christians or suppress their faith, he granted them toleration and 
requested their prayers for his welfare. On the other hand Con- 
stantius Chlorus, emperor of the West, had favored them from the 
beginning ; and his poHcy was inherited by his son. Though the 
Christians still formed a small minority — possibly a twentieth — 
of the population, for two reasons they were remarkably strong : 
(i) whereas the pagans were lukewarm in the interest of their gods 
and of their political leaders, the Christians were energetic and zeal- 
ous ; (2) they had a thorough organization, patterned after that of 
the State. 

In the beginning each congregation had been independent. It had its officers : 
deacons, who cared for the poor; elders, or presbyters, who as the council of the 
church looked after its interests; and an overseer, or bishop, the chief of the 
presbyters. In course of time, as the church of a given city sent out branches to 
neighboring towns and rural districts, the bishop of the parent community came 
to have authority over a group of congregations. Again, among the bishops of the 
age of Constantine, some differences of rank and of influence were already appear- 
ing, while the bishop of Rome was acquiring the greatest influence of all. In 



Constantine 423 

brief, the government of the Church was becoming a monarchy. In another way, 
too, the Christian world was learning to act in unison. The religious officials of a 
province frequently met in council; and sometimes a gathering represented a 
much larger area. Thus the tendency to centralization was already strong in the 
Church. 

Constantine saw the advantage he might derive from the support 
of this powerful organization. Accordingly he and Licinius, in 
313 A.D., issued their famous Edict of Mi-lan\ which granted tolera- 
tion to all religions, without exception, and raised Christianity to an 
equal footing with paganism. Constantine himself professed the new 
faith, and encouraged it rather than the old. Let us not imagine 
that his avowed conversion improved his character. He continued 
to be what he had been, — a man without heart or scruple, more 
pagan perhaps than Christian, ready to serve himself by hypocrisy or 
bloodshed. Nevertheless, as a far-sighted statesman, he worked con- 
sistently for the best interests of the empire. 

In his time the Church was becoming more and more distracted by quarrels 
over points of belief. The leaders of the Church, especially in the East, were at- 
tempting to build up an intricate theology, patterned after the philosophy of the 
Greeks. Naturally they differed on many points. The chief of all controversies 
was that between two Church officials of Egypt, — Aih-an-a' si-us diVid. A-ri'tis, — 
concerning the nature of Christ. Although both admitted that He was the son of 
God, Arius maintained that the Son was by nature inferior to the Father. On 
the other hand, Athanasius asserted absolute equality between the Son and the 
Father. In order to strengthen the Church by securing uniformity of belief on 
this as well as on other points, Constantine called a council of bishops from all 
parts of the world to meet at Ni-cae'a, a city in northwestern Asia Minor, to settle 
the disputes and to decide upon a creed which all should accept. By adopting 
the view of Athanasius, the council made it orthodox, while that of his opponent 
became a heresy. The West readily accepted the Nicene Creed, as this decision 
is called; and in this manner it has come down to the Roman Catholic Church 
and to most of the Protestant denominations of to-day; but Arianism continued 
widespread in the East. 

The council of Nicaea was the first gathering which professed to represent the 
entire Christian world. The institution of such a general council, to meet as oc- 
casion demanded, added greatly to the power of the Church in its contest with 
paganism. 



424 From Diocletian to Constantine 

Constantine took a fetep next in importance to the recognition of 
Christianity, when he chose as his residence the Greek city of Byzan- 
tium, henceforth named Con-stan-ti-no^ple after himself. It was ad- 
mirably situated for commerce, and was much nearer than Rome to 
the frontiers of the Danube and the Euphrates, which especially 
needed defence. As the East and the West were drifting apart, it 
was necessary that each division should have a capital and a stable 
government. The removal of the capital helped diminish the im- 
portance of declining Rome. 

334. Causes of the Decline of Rome : ( i ) Economic and Social. — 
Diocletian and Constantine made the imperial government stronger 
and more effective, but did nothing to arrest the economic and social 
decay. As early as the Samnite Wars,^ slavery began to destroy the 
freemen ; during the late republic and the empire foreign and civil 
wars continued to thin the population, while the increasing burden 
of taxation made life every day more wretched. Under Diocletian's 
system the growing splendor of the imperial courts added to the bur- 
den. With their scant means many found it impossible to support 
families ; and even the slaves grew fewer. Most of the lower classes, 
free and slave, became hereditary serfs — coloni — bound to the soil 
and to the payment of fixed dues to their lords. 

But it was not only the poor who suffered. The cities had once 
enjoyed freedom in local affairs, each governed by a senate, whose 
members were the wealthier men of the community. Gradually the 
emperors had encroached upon the liberty of these cities, till they 
had converted even the privileges of the senators into intolerable 
burdens. For as these officials were responsible for the taxes due 
from their districts, many of them, unable to wring the required 
amount from the poorer classes, were themselves reduced to poverty. 
They were held for life by an iron hand to the work of collecting and 
of paying oppressive taxes. Artisans and traders, too, were bound 
strictly to their hereditary vocations, in order that the government 

^ § 237- 



Decline 425 

might be sure of the dues to which they were subject. In brief, so- 
ciety had been forced into a rigid caste system, which crushed free- 
dom and made the hfe of rich and poor, bond and free, ahnost 
equally wretched. 

335. Causes of the Decline of Rome: (2) The Germans and the 
Christians. — Under these conditions the people, especially of the 
interior provinces, had grown unwarlike, incapable of defending them- 
selves against the barbarians. For centuries they had been unused to 
arms. The government therefore found it more and more necessary 
to make up the armies of Germans, who consequently settled in the 
empire in ever increasing numbers. These people readily adopted 
those features of Roman life and civilization which were suited to 
their nature, but they were too independent to submit to the iron 
government or to the rigid social system of Rome. At the same time 
the Christians, who began to include many Germans, were naturally 
hostile to a government and society based on idolatry. Gradually 
they, like the Germans, began to undermine the worn-out parts of 
the old system and to impress their own character on what remained. 
In this way the Christians and Germans were transforming tiie 
aneient pagan empire of tJie Romans into the mediaeval Christian 
empire of the Germaiis. 

In the period we are now considering (284-337 a.d.), this change 
was going on quietly under the protection chiefly of German troops 
on the outposts of the empire. But the wisest men could not know 
how soon these defences would fall before the barbarian tempest 
which was to sweep across the frontier. 

The Decline of Culture 

336. Language, Literature, and Art (after 180 A.D.). — The 

Romans now lost both taste and creative ability. Their language 
itself, mixed more and more with the German, began to decline. 
In trying to speak Latin, the foreigners corrupted it into dialects. 



426 



From Diocletian to Co7istantine 



which in time became the Romance languages, — chiefly the Italian, 
French, Spanish, and Portuguese. 

Apart from the Christian writers and the jurists there were no 
eminent authors. 

Public works, though still built on a grand scale, show the same 
lack of creative power. As a type of Roman baths we may take 
those of Diocletian. This structure covered an area of over twenty- 
five acres. Besides the vast swimming tank it contained three 
thousand marble basins, and included a library, club-rooms, gardens, 
and gymnasia. Baths of this kind were a great temptation to idle- 




The Basilica of Constantine 

ness and dissipation. Much of this building has been destroyed; 
but the ruins which remain have been converted into a church, 
charitable and educational institutions, and a museum of ancient 
Roman art. 

Two triumphal arches of this period are still standing. That of 
Septimius Severus at the northwest corner of the Forum is majestic 
and original ; that of Constantine near the Colosseum is partly made 
up of material stolen from an earlier work. Constantine's Basilica, 
whose ruins stand on the north side of the Sacred Way,' is the largest 

1 p. 386. 



TriinnpJial Arches 



427 



and grandest of the kind. Unfortunately this emperor encouraged 
the practice of tearing down fine old public works for the material 
they contained. This practice did more than anything else to 
destroy the monuments of ancient Rome. 

Topic for Reading 

Christianity and the Empire. — Emerton, hitrodiidion to the Middle Ages, 
ch, ix; Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, ii. pp. 556-573; Duruy, History of 
Rome, vii. pp. 472-520; Adams, Civilization during the Middle Ages, ch. iii ; 
Bruce, Gesta Christi, chs. ii-x. 




A Fountain 
(Palace of the Conservator!, Rome) 



The Roman Forum 

(In the immediate foreground is the Temple of Vespasian ; beyond the road on the 
left is the Arch of Septimius Severus : on the right the Temple of Saturn, beyond which 
is the Basilica Julia, and still farther the three columns of the Temple of Castor and 
Pollux; above the latter are trees growing on the Palatine Mount. Near the Temple 
of Castor and Pollux is the foundation of the Temple of Vesta, and farther, on the 
top of the ridge, we can see the Arch of Titus.) 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS AND THE FALL OF THE 
EMPIRE IN THE WEST (337-476 a.d.) 

337. The Sons of Constantine (337); Julian "the Apostate" 
(361-363 A.D.). — Constantine was followed by his three sons, who 
inherited the bad traits of their father without his ability. They 
massacred nearly all their kinsmen to rid themselves of possible 
rivals, and then turned against one another. One was killed by a 
brother's hand ; another by a usurper ; and while the third devoted 
himself to theology, the Persians, the Franks, and the Alemanni 
invaded the empire. His cousin Ju'li-an, leaving his philosophic 

428 



Valentinian 429 

studies at Athens, took command in Gaul, and routed the Alemanni 
in a great battle at Strass'burg. He drove the barbarians from the 
province and strengthened the frontier defences. The philosopher, 
who thus proved his ability to rule, became sole emperor on the 
death of his cousin. Disgusted with the character of his Christian 
kinsmen, he became a pagan, and strove to suppress Christianity. 
He refrained from persecution, however, and his mild efforts to 
restore the gods of the old world failed. He was still a young 
man when, after a brilliant campaign against the Persians, he was 
killed by an arrow of the enemy. In him the empire lost an able 
ruler and defender. 

Soon after his death the barbarians began to break through the 
frontier and to settle permanently within the empire. Before taking 
up the story of these invasions, however, we shall notice briefly the 
more important rulers of the century between JuHan and the dissolu- 
tion of the empire in the West. 

338. Valentinian (364-375) and Valens (364-378) ; Theodosius 
(379-395 A.D.). — In the year after Juhan's death, the array made' 
Val-en-tin'i-an emperor. Ferocious in temper, yet strong and just, 
he was well adapted to command the imperial troops, most of whom 
were now barbarians. Through the eleven years of his reign he 
maintained the hard-pressed frontiers of Britain and Gaul, and even 
crossed the Rhine to chastise the Alemanni in their own country. 
His weak brother Va'lens, however, to whom he had given the 
East, allowed a great host of Goths to cross the Danube and to 
settle within the empire. They even defeated and killed him. The 
eastern and western branches of the empire continued under sepa- 
rate governments till The-o-do'si-us united them for a brief season. 
This ruler distinguished himself, too, by making Christianity the sole 
religion of the State. When he ordered the pagan temples closed, 
those who carried out his edict destroyed many of the buildings and 
broke the images. Though the pagans were forbidden to worship 
their gods, some quietly persisted in their illegal devotion for at 



430 TJie hivasion of the Barbarians 

least a century longer. Theodosius was equally zealous for uni- 
formity of Christian faith. By persecuting the A'ri-ans and other 
heretical sects he hoped to establish the Nicene Creed ^ throughout 
the East. Under him orthodox Christianity thus became intolerant 
of all other faiths. It was chiefly this theological zeal which earned 
for him the title of " the Great." 

339. The Empire divided (395) ; End of the Empire in the West 
(476 A.D.). — At his death the empire was again divided ; Ar-ca'di-us, 
one of his sons, received as his portion the East, and Ho-no'ri-us, 
the other, was given the West. Though the Eastern branch main- 
tained itself thereafter for more than a thousand years, the Western 
gradually fell into the hands of the barbarians. At the same time 
the government of the West came more and more under their influ- 
ence. It was significant of this changing condition that Gal'la Pla- 
cid'i-a, the beautiful, accomplished sister of Honorius, became the 
wife of A'taulf, a Gothic chief who had been ravaging Italy and 
who brought his bride rich gifts from the spoils of her people. 
Placidia afterward returned to Rome, where as regent for her 
young son she ruled the Western branch of the empire many 
years.^ 

In the reign of Arcadius, John, whose eloquence won for him the surname 
Chry-sos'tom — golden-mouthed — became patriarch of Constantinople. He had 
forsaken the profession of law for a life of solitary devotion. After some years, 
however, he left his mountain cave to preach in Antioch. When the fame of his 
wonderful oratory reached the Christians of Constantinople, they forced him to 
come to their city. Installed as patriarch, he applied himself with great energy 
to the government of the Church. He compelled most of the religious officials 
of the Eastern empire to bow to his will; he persecuted heretics; and he de- 
nounced the sins of Christians, without sparing the nobles or even the empress 
Eudoxia, wife of Arcadius. In revenge she plotted his ruin. By the decree of a 
Church council she drove him into exile; and when he returned to continue his 
denunciation of her vices, she again caused his banishment, this time to a deso- 
late place on Mount Taurus. Some years after his death, which occurred in 
exile, the authorities of the Church, to atone for their mistreatment of the great 

^ § m- ' § 345- 



Romidus AiigiisUihis 431 

preacher, brought his bones to Constantinople and canonized him as a saint. 
His sermons, still preserved, show a brilliant flow of language and a fervid zeal 
for religion and pure morals. 

Meanwhile barbarians were seizing provinces and Rome was growing 
weaker. At length Ric'i-mer, an able, scheming German, gained con- 
trol of the government ; and while he kept the power in his own 
hands, he made and unmade emperors at pleasure. He called him- 
self simply patrician, — a word Constantine the Great had been first 
to bestow as a hfelong title. In Ricimer's case it meant a man who 
was at once commander of the army and chief minister of his sover- 
eign. Three years after the death of the tyrant Ricimer, 0-res'tes, 
an Illyrian, became patrician of Italy. Refusing the imperial title for 
himself, he permitted the soldiers to confer it on his young son 
Ro77iidus, whom they now called Au-gus'tu-lus — "little emperor." 
The boy had ruled but a few months, however, when 0-do-a'cer, 
elected "king" by the Germans of the army, deposed him, and com- 
pelled the senate to send the purple, with other imperial ornaments, 
to Constantinople, in token of the reunion of the empire under one 
head. As governor of Italy subject in name to the sole remaining 
emperor, Odoacer contented himself with the title of patrician. 

The date of the deposition of Romulus — 476 a.d. — better per- 
haps than any other marks the " fall " of the empire in the West and 
the transition from ancient to mediaeval history. For although the 
idea of the empire and of the sovereignty of the ruler in Constanti- 
nople survived, as a matter of fact the Germans henceforth controlled 
all the West, and were working out in their own way the destiny of 
Europe. In turning from the Romans to the Germans, we pass from 
ancient to mediaeval history. 

340. The Germans. — While the Greeks and the Itahans were 
making great progress in civilization, the Germans,^ their northern 
neighbors, remained barbarous ; for in their home in central Europe 

^ Or Teutons; § 2, n. i. 



432 



TJic Invasion of the Barbarians 



they had fewer means of learning the customs and the arts of settled 
life. The Genua nia of Tacitus, composed about loo A.n., describes 
their manners and institutions at that early time, before they came 
under the influence of Rome and of Christianity. 

They lived in miserable huts, and dressed in skins or in coarse cloth. 
Though they were not untainted by vices, as drunkenness and gam- 
bling, their morals were on the whole pure ; they respected women 
more than the Greeks and the Romans ever did ; they were brave. 




A German Village 



dignified, and free. Before they learned of Christ, they worshipped 
the powers of nature and had no temples or images. 

Some tribes followed hereditary kings, others elected dukes to lead 
them in war and on migrations. The chief men of a tribe met in a 
council to settle questions of public interest. Important matters they 
referred to the gathering of all the warriors, who showed their dis- 
pleasure by a murmur or clashed their weapons in token of approval. 
This assembly elected chiefs, tried offences of life and death, and 
decided other important matters. 

The life and institutions of the Germans were hke those of the 



The Germans 



433 



early Greeks and Italians.* As soon, however, as they came into con- 
tact with the Romans, they began to learn from them more refined 
habits and to desire more settled homes. This eagerness for homes 
was perhaps their chief motive in attacking the empire. 

In the time of Marius and Julius Caesar ^ they endangered the em- 
pire. In the reign of Augustus they destroyed an entire Roman 
army.^ Henceforth they 
grew more and more powerful, 
chiefly by uniting their tribes 
in large fede7'atio7is. Such 
a union was that of the Franks 
on the lower Rhine, and the 
Alemanni — " men of all 
races " — on the upper. 
Farther east were the Goths, 
who are said to have once 
lived in Sweden. From the 
Baltic to the Black Sea they 
had journeyed, great swarms 
of gigantic warriors, with 
their women and children, 
and their two-wheeled 
wagons. Thereafter they 
kept harassing the eastern 
provinces by land and sea, 
till Aurehan gave up Dacia to 
them.'* Those who now settled 
in this province, who are termed West-Goths, or Vis'i-goths, acquired 
much of the Roman civiHzation, and accepted Arian Christianity from' 
Bishop Ul'fil-as, who translated the Bible into their speech. Frag- 
ments of this work still exist and are highly prized as specimens of 
the first piece of German literature. 

1 § 209; Botsford, Greece, pp. 1-3. 2 §§ 286, 298. 3 § 307. •» § 331- 
2 F 




The Baptism of Christ 

On the right is John the Baptist, on the left the 
River-god Jordan, around are the Twelve 
Apostles. 

(Mosaic in the Church of Santa Maria in Cos- 
medin, Ravenna, Fifth Century A.U.) 



434 -^/^^ Invasion of the Barbarians 

341. The Visigoths to the Death of Theodosius (270-395 A.D.) . — 

For about a century the West-Goths lived quietly in Dacia as the 
allies of the Roman people. With the progress of settled life they 
became more and more distinct from their less civilized kinsmen, 
the East-Goths — Os'tro-goths — who lived north of the Black Sea, 
between Dacia and the Don River. Suddenly this peaceful life was 
disturbed by the appearance of the Huns, a dark, dwarfish race of 
savages, with little eyes and scarred, beardless faces. On horseback 
they swept the country hke a tempest, plundering and destroying 
whatever they found and killing even the women and the children 
without pity. Those of their enemies whom they chose to spare be- 
came their slaves or subjects. They were an Asiatic race, usually 
classed with the Turanians. Unlike the Germans, they had no wish 
to settle in the conquered lands, but were content with roving and 
remained savage. They conquered the East- Goths, and overthrew 
the West-Gothic king, who lived in Dacia. Thereupon two hundred 
thousand warriors of the defeated monarch, with their wives and 
children, gathered on the north bank of the Danube, and implored 
the Romans to let them cross for safety from their frightful pursuers. 
The weak-minded Valens, of whom we have already heard,^ granted 
their petition on the understanding that they should surrender their 
arms and give their children as hostages. These were needless con- 
ditions ; for with their arms they would, in grateful loyalty, have 
helped him defend the empire. 

For many days the Roman ships were conveying the multitude 
across the river (376 a.d.). But while the officers in charge of this 
work were intent upon robbing the Goths, the warriors retained their 
arms, and passed into the empire, burning with rage at the insults 
and the wrongs they suffered from the depraved government of Con- 
stantinople. When famine and further mistreatment goaded them 
to rebellion, they spread murder and desolation over Thrace and 
Macedonia. Valens rashly assailed them at Ha-dri-a-no'ple, and 

^ § 338. 



Alaric and Stilicho 435 

perished with two-thirds of his men (378 a.d.). This was a grave 
misfortune, for it taught the invading barbarians that they might 
defeat Romans and slay emperors in open fight. For some time 
after the battle the Goths roamed about at pleasure, but could not 
take the fortified cities. From Theodosius,^ the successor of Valens, 
they received homes in Thrace, while those Ostrogoths who had 
followed them into the empire were settled in Phrygia. The barba- 
rians became the allies of the Romans, and Theodosius remained 
their firm friend. 

342. Alaric and Stilicho (395-408 A.D.). — Soon after his death 
the Visigoths, needing more land and wealth, hoisted one of the 
most promising of their young nobles, named Al'a-ric, upon a 
shield, as was their custom in electing a chieftain. Under his leader- 
ship they ravaged Greece till the minister of Arcadius, now emperor 
of the East, bought the friendship of Alaric by making him gov- 
ernor of lUyricum. This gave the barbarian chief means of supply- 
ing his men with good arms ; so that in a few years he was ready for 
a more important undertaking, — the invasion of Italy. He had 
some idea of the value of civilization ; and it was his wish to find the 
best country in which to settle his followers and organize a kingdom. 
We are to think of him, accordingly, not as a mere destroyer, but as 
the founder of the first German state which was to be established 
within the limits of the empire. 

It is a remarkable fact that not only the common soldiers but even 
the best generals and ministers of the empire were now Germans. 
Such was StiVi-cho, a fair and stately Vandal, who had married a 
niece of Theodosius, and was at this time guardian and chief general 
of the worthless Honorius, emperor in the West. Stilicho and Alaric 
were well matched. Both were born leaders of men ; both were 
brave and energetic, with equal genius for war. But Stilicho had 
the advantage of Roman organization. Hastily gathering troops 
from Britain, from Gaul, from various parts in the West, he defeated 

^ § 338. 



436 The hivasion of the Baj'barians 

Alaric twice in northern Italy, and compelled him to return to 
Illyricum. But Stilicho had a jealous enemy who never ceased 
whispering in the ears of Honorius his tale, true or false, of the 
Vandal's plotting. The miserable emperor at length gave way, and 
ordered the death of the only man who was able to save the empire. 
The Roman legionaries followed the example of their master by 
murdering the wives and the children of the Germans in the army. 
The enraged barbarians, thirty thousand strong, went off to the camp 
of Alaric, and besought him to take vengeance by invading Italy. 

343. Siege and Sack of Rome (408-410 A.D.) ; Death of Alaric. — 
The Gothic king crossed the Alps and marched straight for Rome. 
For the first time since the days of Camillus the eternal city was 
besieged by barbarians.^ Afflicted with famine and pestilence, the 
depraved citizens bought Alaric off by the payment of an enormous 
ransom. In the following year he appeared again before the walls, 
this time demanding whole provinces for the settlement of his men. 
Not gaining all they wished, the fierce Goths besieged Rome a 
third time, burst in by surprise, and sacked the city. They killed 
many citizens and plundered the dwellings ; but as Christians they 
spared the churches and all who took refuge in them. 

The sack of Rome astonished mankind ; for all had supposed the 
city inviolable, and in her fall they thought they saw the ruin of the 
law and order of the world. It discouraged the Christians through- 
out the empire, that so many holy shrines, so godly a city, should 
be profaned by those whom they considered pagans. To console 
them, St. Au-gus'tine wrote his City of God, to prove that the com- 
munity of the Most High would last forever even though the greatest 
city of earth had fallen. 

St. Augustine, the most famous of the Christian Fathers, was born in Africa 
in 354 A.D. After many years of wayward life he joined the heretical sect of 
Manichaeans, and somewhat later accepted the orthodox Christian faith. Appointed 
bishop of Hippo, a city near Carthage, he devoted the rest of his life to speaking 

' § 231. 



TJlc VisigotJis 437 

and writing in defence of orthodox Christianity against both heresy and paganism. 
By means of his voluminous works on theology he did much toward reducing the 
teachings of Christians to a consistent philosophic system. He died in Hippo 
in the seventy-sixth year of his age, while the Vandals were besieging that city; 
cf- §.345- 

As the Goths did not like to Hve in cities, they soon left Rome, 
and wandered southward with their booty. They intended to cross 
to Africa ; but while they were making ready for this, Alaric died 
— apparently from the fever-laden cUmate of southern Italy. To 
prepare a safe resting-place for the deceased king, his followers com- 
pelled some Italian captives to turn the Bu-sen'to from its course 
and to dig a grave in the empty river-bed ; then when the burial 
rites were over, and the river again flowed in its natural channel, they 
killed the prisoners who had done the work, that no native might 
discover their secret, so as to disturb the remains of their mighty 
chieftain. Thus Alaric, the founder of the first Gothic state, died, 
hke Moses, before he could bring his people to their destined home. 

344. The Visigothic Kingdom in Spain. — His brother-in-law, 
Ataulf, succeeded him. This man had once wished to blot the 
Romans out of existence and to substitute the Goths in their place ; 
but as he saw his followers slow in adapting themselves to settled 
life, he recognized the value of Rome for order and civihzation. 
Accordingly he became her champion ; and taking with him the 
emperor's sister, whom he hoped to make his bride, he led his 
nation from Italy to Gaul and Spain. These countries had already 
been plundered by Vandals, Sueves, and A'lans, whom the Goths 
had to subdue in order to found their new state. Here their 
wanderings ended. The country they occupied extended from the 
Loire in Gaul over most of Spain, with Tou-louse' for its capital. 
Their state lasted unimpaired till the Franks seized the Gallic part 
of it, about 500 A.D. In Spain they continued independent for 
two centuries longer, when the Mo-ham'me-dans swept over them 
and destroyed their kingdom.^ 

^ § 358- 



438 The Iiivasioji of tlic Barbarians 

The Visigoths are especially interesting as the "pioneers of the 
German invasion " ; and for that reason we have dwelt at some 
length on their wanderings and on their relations with Rome. The 
movements of the other barbarian races we shall follow more rapidly. 

345. The Vandals in the Empire (335-435 A.D.). — The Van 'dais, 
another German race, received permission from Constantine the 
Great to settle in Pan-no 'ni-a, a province on the Danube. Here 
under the influence of Rome, and of Christianity in its Arian form, 
they made progress in orderly life. But in the time of Stilicho 
and Alaric they abandoned their settlements and wandered to the 
northwest, in the direction of the Rhine, joining to themselves on 
the way the Germanic Sueves and the Alans, an Asiatic people 
(406 A.D.). As Stilicho had withdrawn the garrisons from the 
Rhine, to use against Alaric, they crossed to Gaul and ravaged 
their way into Spain. Here, as we have seen, the Visigoths under 
Ataulf found them. The Sueves were gradually pressed by the 
newcomers into the northwestern corner of the peninsula, where 
they established a small kingdom. The other two races retired 
southward. 

Thus far the Vandals had been driven about from place to place. 
Now, however, they found their hero-king in Gai'ser-ic, under whom 
they, too, were to appear as a conquering nation. In contrast with 
the majestic type of the German leader, Gaiseric was short and limp- 
ing. He had, however, a cunning, nimble mind, and he was grasp- 
ing, persistent, and bold. In addition to his desire to find lands for 
his men and a kingdom for himself, he sought to humble Rome, and 
as an Arian Christian, to destroy the Orthodox church. 

The Vandal chief found his opportunity in a quarrel between two 
Roman officers, A-e'ti-us and Bon'i-face. At this time Galla Placidia 
was regent of the West. She allowed Aetius to work upon her feel- 
ings against his rival, Count ^ Boniface, then commander in Africa. 
Ordered to Rome on a groundless suspicion of treason, the count 
^ In Diocletian's system the count was a military officer below the duke; § 332. 



Gaiseric 



439 



turned for revenge to the Vandals, and invited them to invade his 
provinces. The barbarians accepted the offer. Accordingly, as soon 
as Gaiseric became chief, he crossed to Africa with the remnant of 
his nation, numbering perhaps eighty thousand persons, including 
women and children. In vain the penitent Boniface tried to send 
him back ; Gaiseric was not the man to be swayed by Roman counts. 




The Tomb of Galla Placidia, Ravenna 

(Originally the Church of S. Nazario e Celso, built by Placidia about 440 ; it contains 
her sarcophagus and that of Honorius.) 

To him Africa was a tempting prize. Its large, fertile estates worked 
by serfs had long supplied Rome with grain. The richest of its many 
cities was "happy Carthage," prosperous now as before the Punic 
Wars. The Vandals desolated the fields and took the fortified places 
by siege or treachery. Meantime a treaty with Rome recognized 
their kingdom in Africa, subject only to an annual tribute. How 
weak must have been the Roman army when so few invading bar- 
barians could seize the fairest provinces of the empire ! 



440 TJie Invasion of the Barbarians 

346. Vandalism; The Sack of Rome (455 A.D.). — But Gaiseric's 
followers were not so peaceful as those of Alaric. No sooner had they 
gained the seaports than they built ships and took to piracy. Thus 
they harassed Italy and all the neighboring shores. " Whither shall 
we sail? " the pilot is said to have asked his chief at the beginning of 
one of these expeditions. " To the dwelHngs of those with whom God 
is angry," Gaiseric replied. From their piracy, but more from their 
pillage of the orthodox churches, wherever they found them, the 
word Vandalism, derived from the name of their race, has come to 
signify the aimless, wanton destruction of property. 

Deprived of her food supply by these pirates, Rome suffered from 
famine, and was soon to see the destroyers in her own streets. The 
emperor at this time was a certain Maximus, who had usurped the 
throne and had forced Eu-dox'i-a, the widow of his predecessor,^ to 
become his wife. She then requested Gaiseric to avenge her wrong 
by plundering Rome. The Vandals gladly accepted the invitation. 
For a fortnight they pillaged the city and stored in their vessels all 
the movable property they considered of sufficient value. Their 
leader, however, had promised the great Leo, then bishop of Rome, to 
refrain from bloodshed and from burning the houses ; and he kept 
his word. Besides their shiploads of booty, the Vandals carried away 
many captives into slavery. 

For many years Gaiseric ruled successfully, and extended his lord- 
ship over the neighboring islands. Though at his death the glory 
of his kingdom passed away, it maintained its independence for more 
than a half-century longer, when it was annexed by the Eastern 
branch of the empire (534 a.d.). 

347. The Burgundians. — Meantime the Bur-gun'di-ans, another 
German race from the country about the Baltic, made their way into 
Gaul, where they founded a kingdom in the valley of the Rhone and 
Saone (pron. Soil) rivers. A writer of the fifth century a.d. speaks 
of the " gormandizing sons of Bur'gun-dy who smear their yellow 

1 Valentinian III. 



TJic Franks 44 ^ 

hair with rancid butter." Like other Germans, these greasy giants 
had a taste for poetry ; from an earlier Norse myth, their bards elab- 
orated the Nibelungenlied, an epic song of their national heroes. 
Their laws, too, are of interest for the light they throw on the rela- 
tions between the barbarian invaders and the Romans. Though 
their kingdom soon fell under the Franks, the name has survived in 
the modern Burgundy. 

348. The Franks and the Huns. — The Franks had crossed the 
Rhine and had occupied a wide territory on the left bank of the 
river, extending from Mainz to the sea. Thus by the middle of 
the fifth century a.d. the Germans had come to possess much of the 
Western empire, — Africa, Spain, and parts of Gaul. Nominally 
dependent on the emperor, their kingdoms were virtually free. Cen- 
tral Gaul was still held for Rome by an able governor, Aetius. He 
and The-od'o-ric, king of the West-Goths, were enemies, as each 
tried to extend his territory at the expense of the other. But we 
shall now see them bring the Germans and the Romans into one 
army to repel the great enemy of civihzation, — Afti-la the Hun. 

Since their victory over the Goths, the Huns had grown formi- 
dable.^ It is said that Attila, their king, from his log-cabin capital in 
Hungary commanded the barbarians of Europe and of Asia, and 
threatened Persia as well as the Roman empire. After desolating 
the provinces of the East and terrorizing Constantinople, he 
brought the storm of his wrath upon Gaul. Wasted fields and ruined 
cities marked his path. At this trying time, the union of Germans 
and Romans in defence of their common country was a happy omen 
for the future of Europe. Theodoric and Aetius met Attila at 
some distance from Cha-lons', in one of the fiercest conflicts known 
to history (451 a.d.). The slaughter was vast. We are even told 
that the blood from the thousands of wounds swelled to a torrent the 
brook which flowed through the field of battle. Theodoric fell, 
but the Hun was routed. Had he gained the day, it might have 

^ § 341- 



442 



TJie Invasian of the Barbarians 



taken years, possibly centuries, to redeem Europe from the desola- 
tion and the barbarism which he, as victor, would have spread over 
the continent. Such was the importance of this battle.* 

Though Attila withdrew from Gaul, the next year he appeared in 
Italy on his errand of destruction. He visited Aq-ui-lei'a with fire 
and sword. The miserable remnant of the population, joined by 
refugees from other ruined towns, fled to a cluster of islands along 
the Adriatic shore. In time their wretched settlement became the' 




The Good SiiKriiERi) 
(Mosaic in the Tomb of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Fifth Century A.D.) 

famous city of Ven'ice, which was to help defend Europe against 
Attila's kinsmen, the Turks. As the Huns threatened Rome, Bishop 
Leo came to their chief, and persuaded him to spare the city.^ 
Such, at least, is the story ; and it is difficult to see what else 

^ Three years afterward Valentinian III, jealous of the fame of Aetius, invited 
the great commander into the imperial palace, and killed him there with his own 
hand. 

2 This was three years before Gaiseric's plunder of Rome, — which the same 
Leo tried to prevent, but could only soften. 



Odoacer 443 

induced the savage to withdraw from Italy. Attila died soon after 
his departure, and with his death the Hunnish empire broke into 
pieces. 

349. Why the Empire in the West " fell " (476 A.D.). — We are 
now in a position to understand why the Western branch of the 
empire "fell." Before the year 476 a.d., the date of this event, 
most of the provinces had come into the hands of the barbarians, so 
that little more than Italy was left under the direct rule of the 
emperor. The native Itahans no longer had the courage or the 
resources necessary for defending their country. Further, most of 
the emperors of the fifth century a.d. were weaklings, like Honorius, 
little more than puppets of their German commander-in-chief, who 
made and deposed them at pleasure. Thence it came about that 
the title " patrician," which the chief general bore, carried more 
weight with the German soldiers in the service than even that of 
emperor. Although no barbarian people had yet, as a body, made 
their permanent home in Italy, a continual stream of foreigners was 
pouring in to recruit the army. Among these soldiers of fortune 
came Odoacer, of whom we have already heard.^ He was a bold, 
clever man, respected by the German troops. They clamored for 
a third of the land in Italy ; and when the father of the young 
emperor Romulus refused their demand, they hoisted Odoacer on 
their shield, thus making him their king. 

How he then brought the Hne of Western emperors to a formal 
close has been explained. In fact their power had already declined 
so completely that no one living at the time saw in the event of 
476 A.D. anything worthy of notice. No one supposed that any 
part of the empire had fallen. Indeed, the continuance of the 
emperors in the East satisfied in some degree a want which Rome 
had left in the hearts of the barbarians as well as of her native 
citizens, — a longing for a central power which, in the midst of 
chaos, should stand for law and order throughout the world. Ac 

' § 339. 



444 1^^^^ Invasion of the Bai'barians 

cordingly, most men, even in the West, whatever their race or 
condition, thought of the Eastern emperor as their own. It is 
evident, therefore, that the term '"faU" is somewhat misleading. 
In theory, the event of the year was the reunion of the East and 
West under one head ; at the same time, it pointed to an accom- 
plished fact, — the dissolution of the empire in the West. 

The happenings of 476 a.d. had this important result, that as 
Italy ceased to be the home of emperors, the bishop of Rome 
became the most respected and most influential person in the 
West, — the pope succeeded to the throne of the deposed Augustus. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Life of the Early Germans. — Tacitus, Germania (English translation) ; 
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. ix; Gummere, Germanic 
Origins, chs. iii-xv. 

II. Alaric. — Emerton, Introduction to the Middle Ages, pp. 28-32; Hodg- 
kin, Italy and her Invaders, I. chs. v-vii; Gibbon, chs. xxx, xxxi. 

III. The Year 476 A.D. — Emerton, ch. vi. § i; Gibbon, ch. xxxvi (near 
end); Oman, European History, ch. i; Bury, Later Roman Empire, Bk. III. 
ch. V. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE NEW GERMAN STATES AND THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE 

(476-800 A.D.) 

350. The Condition of Europe (476 A.D.). — At the time when 
the sceptre fell from the hands of the boy-emperor, Romulus 
" Augustulus," the entire West was still in chaos. In Gaul and 
Spain the Burgundians, and more especially the Visigoths, were 
making some progress toward settled life and orderly government. 
The Vandals of Africa, remaining barbarous, persecuted and op- 
pressed their Roman subjects, while in northern Gaul the Franks 
were still pagan, little touched by the civilization of Rome. The 
An'gles and the Sax'ons, who were already invading Britain, and of 
whom we have yet to hear, were not only pagans, but wholly 
ignorant of Roman ways of life. Italy, as we have seen, continued 
Roman till Odoacer gave a third of her land to his German soldiers. 
Under these circumstances, it is easy to understand why all the West 
was in confusion and conflict, — each invading race against the other, 
German against Roman, pagan against Christian, and Arian against 
Catholic. In this chapter we shall see how chaos gradually gave 
way to order, and how the various conflicting forces finally har- 
monized in one civilization, one rehgion, and one empire. 

Extending along the ancient frontier on the north, just outside the empire, 
a line of barbarous races pressed upon the heels of their kinsmen who had crossed 
the border. On the shore of the North Sea between the Rhine and the Elbe were 
the Fris'i-ans, farther south the Thu-rin'gi-ans and the Alemanni. Eastward 
along the Danube were the Ru'gi-ans, Lombards, and Gep'i-dae in order, and 
beyond them the Slavs. "All these tribes, like their brethren who had gone 
before them, were showing a general tendency to press west and south, and take 
their share in the plunder of the dismembered empire." Oman, European His- 
tory, p. 6. 

445 



446 



TJie Neiv Gcnmxn States 



351. The Ostrogoths or East- Goths ; Theodoric the Great (476- 
526 A.D.). — The first of the great forces which helped bring about 
this change was the East-Gothic nation. When Attila died, it threw 
off the Hunnish yoke/ and settled in Moesia as an ally of the 




4p 'Z(mgtta<£l Emtjrmi Oreen with 



Ea,m^,i oi.,s.r. 

emperor at Constantinople. Between these barbarians and the em- 
peror there was much trouble, which ended in their migration to 
Italy. 

The leader of the movement was Theodoric, known as the Great, 

1 §§ 341, 348. 




Church of San Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna 

(Built by Theodoric.) 



TJieodoric 447 

the ablest and most statesmanlike of all the German chieftains whom 
we have thus far met. He brought his entire nation, women and 
children as well as warriors, over the Alps, and fought three battles 
with Odoacer. After conquering his opponent, he put him to death, 
and then proceeded to take another third of the land of Italy from 
the owners to give to his men. 

Here his violence ceased ; the conqueror became the statesman. 
His just laws, borrowed from the Roman code, reconciled the native 
Italians to their new German neighbors. While he himself remained 
master of all, he employed his Goths for war, the educated Romans 
as advisers, and the Italian commons for the humbler works of 
peace. With remarkable tact he adapted himself to his new position 
as king of Italy. Though he could neither read nor write, he 
encouraged education ; a barbarian, he yet appreciated the value of 
Roman law and civilization ; an Arian, he tolerated the orthodox 
Catholics. In this way he aimed to reduce the various classes of 
his subjects to order and harmony. Under him Italy was secure 
from invasion, and more prosperous than she had been for centuries. 
The great cities could now repair their decayed public works and 
erect new ones. Among the king's buildings in Ra-ven'na, his capital, 
was a beautiful church in the style of a basilica, which is still 
standing. 

His influence was felt outside of Italy : on the one hand, he con- 
tinued subject in name to the emperor in Constantinople ; on the 
other, he connected himself by marriages of his relatives with most 
of the German kings of the West. By such means he brought the 
warring races of the broken empire into some degree of friendly 
relation, which crudely foreshadowed the present state-system of 
Europe. 

In his later years, however, there were intrigues to rid Italy of the 
Goths and to bring the country under the emperor. This trouble 
led Theodoric to put to death on a charge of conspiracy the two 
most eminent men of his court, — Bo-e'thi-us, the renowned philoso- 



448 The Neiv German States 

pher, and Sym'ma-chus, also a noted scholar. Suspecting the pope 
of disloyalty, the king threw him into prison, where he soon died. 
Theodoric himself did not long survive his victims. Thus a glorious 
reign ended in sadness ; and no one after Theodoric was able to 
carry on his great work. 

352. Justinian (527-565 A.D.) ; his Wars. — In the year after 
Theodoric's death Jus-tin'i-an became emperor at Constantinople. 
Though his ancestors were rude peasants, he received, in addition 
to great natural ability, the best education which the Eastern capital 
afforded. 

His ambition was " to restore the grandeur of the empire " by 
legislation, by great public works, and especially by conquering the 
German kingdoms of the West. He had the rare faculty of choosing 
the most competent person for each special service. His wife, the 
empress The-o-do'ra, was a brilliant woman who increased the 
splendor of the court while she tyrannized over nobles and magis- 
trates. At the same time she was charitable to the poor ; and once 
in a riot her firmness saved the throne for her husband. So in 
Bel-i-sa'ri-us the emperor found a commander of remarkable genius, 
well qualified to lead in the work of conquest. This general sub- 
dued the Vandals of Africa in one short campaign (533-534 a.d.) ; 
for after the death of Gaiseric they had declined, and their Roman 
subjects welcomed the army of the East as a deliverer from oppres- 
sion. 

Next year Belisarius attacked the Osirogothic kingdom, which 
included Sicily as well as Italy. He met with Httle opposition till 
he had entered Rome. There the Goths besieged him for a year ; 
meantime Wit'i-gis, their king, cut off the water supply, so that Rome 
lacked pure water till some of the aqueducts were restored a thou- 
sand years afterward. When the siege was at length raised, Belisa- 
rius, on his part, found it difficult to take the strong cities of northern 
Italy. By negotiation, however, he finally secured possession of the 
king and of the entire country. As the Roman rule was oppressive, 



Justinian 449 

the Goths immediately revolted; but after a long, fierce struggle 
(540-553 A.D.) the remnant of their number bade farewell to Italy 
and dispersed among various barbarian tribes. The peninsula came 
wholly under the emperor, and was governed for him by an officer 
termed ex'arch whose capital was Ravenna. Still later, Justinian 
gained a foothold in southeastern Spain, but failed to conquer the 
entire West-Gothic kingdom. 

While the emperor was subduing Italy he was struggling to protect 
the empire from the Persians, who were as mighty as ever. More 
than once he had to purchase peace by the payment of tribute. It 
was well for Europe, however, that he was able to accomplish even 
that ; and we should never lose sight of the fact that the German 
nations were free to work out the destiny of the continent only 
because the empire formed their bulwark against the powers of Asia. 
Such it continued to be for hundreds of years longer, till Constanti- 
nople fell into the hands of the Turks (1453 a.d.). 

The legal adviser of Belisarius in his campaigns was a Greek named P7-o- 
co' pi-US, who wrote an admirable history of the wars — De Bellis — of Justinian. 
Though this work shows due respect for the emperor and empress, it is evident 
that in his heart the author disapproved their character. In his later years, 
accordingly, he composed a secret history — Aii-ec' do-ta — of the scandals and 
immoralities of the imperial court, whose corruption his anger and disgust 
exaggerated. This last work did not come to light till after the author's 
death. 

353. Justinian's Internal Improvements. — Like the earlier Ro- 
man emperors, Justinian was a great builder of roads, fortifications, 
aqueducts, and other public works. The most splendid of his many 
churches was the dome-covered cathedral of St. Sophia, now a 
mosque. In his reign two Christian missionaries brought eggs of 
the silk-worm from China to Constantinople, and taught the Euro- 
peans the culture of silk. Agriculture, commerce, and the skilled 
industries still flourished throughout the empire ; but the produce 
went to support the oppressive Church, State, and army. Justinian 
is most noted, however, as the emperor who finally codified the 

2G 



450 



TJie New German States 



Roman /aw. Under his authority Tri-bo'ni-an, an eminent jurist, 
aided by several associates, drew up first the Code, containing twelve 
books of statutes, and second the Digest, which summarized the 
legal decisions of all the most learned lawyers. To these they 
added a third work, the Institutes, a treatise on the principles of law 
for the use of students. These writings together form the Civil Law, 
the most precious gift of Rome to the modern world. 

In Justinian we find another factor which made for law and order 




Cathedral ov Sr. Sothia, Ciinstantinople 
(Built by Justinian) 

throughout the world. Especially his conquests brought the Western 
nations into closer contact with Roman civilization, and further 
impressed upon the minds of the Germans that they, too, were 
included in the empire. 

354. The Lombards in Italy (568-774 A.D.). — The rule of the 
emperors, however, was financially too burdensome to be long 
endured in Italy. For twelve years after its conquest the peninsula 



TJie Lombards 451 

was governed by Nar'ses, an ambitious man, whose public improve- 
ments weighed heavily upon the taxpayers. The story is that when 
the Italians grew weary of his rule, and the successor of Justinian 
ordered him, accordingly, to return to Constantinople, he besought 
the Lombards to save him by invading the country. They were a 
German tribe who had recently settled in Pannonia. In reply to 
the alleged invitation, their king Al'boin led them into Italy. Though 
warlike they seem to have been few, so that they never succeeded in 
conquering the whole country. Their capital was Pavia • and the 
district they held in the Po Valley still bears the name of Lombardy. 
Besides this, they occupied a territory in central Italy northeast of 
Rome, and another in the south of the peninsula. 

Alboin did not live long after his conquest of Italy. At a banquet he once 
bade Rosamond, his wife, drink from a goblet made of the skull of her own 
father, whom the Lombard king had killed in battle. She obeyed, but afterward 
had him murdered. Becoming the wife of one of the assassins, she gave her 
second husband poisoned liquor, and he, discovering the treachery, compelled 
her to finish the fatal draught. The annals of the German invaders abound in 
such stories of intrigue and violence. 

Lacking a strong central government, the Lombards soon divided 
into a number of duchies, whose dukes were constantly fighting 
against one another, against the king, — when they had one, — and 
against the still unconquered districts. The Italians feared and 
hated them, for they were far harsher and more barbarous than the 
Goths had been ; in fact, it was only with the lapse of centuries that 
they gained some degree of Roman refinement. 

Meantime \k\€\x occupation of Italy had a far-reaching effect \x\^oxi 
the history of the peninsula and of Europe. Their possessions were 
so distributed as to leave the unconquered territory cut up into 
duchies of varying size, with scarcely any means of communication 
with one another. Though these duchies still looked to the emperor 
as their sovereign, most of them were practically independent. 
Thus the Lombard invasion destroyed the unity of Italy. In time, 
the country fell into a condition somewhat like that of ancient 



452 TJie New German States 

Greece, with her brilliant independent cities, jealous of one another 
and constantly at war. It is only in recent years that Italy has 
become completely, and we may hope permanently, united and 
free. 

As a second result of the Lombard conquest, the pope of Rojne, 
isolated from the exarch of Ravenna and from the emperor in the 
East, began to acquire, in addition to his priesthood, the character 
of a political ruler. The possessions of the papal office, or see, 
came to include, under the title of the Patrimony of St. Peter, 
many estates throughout Italy and Sicily, which, could they have 
been massed together, would have made a considerable kingdom. 
As the administrator of the Patrimony, the pope gained something 
of the power of an earthly, or temporal, prince. The man who did 
most to bring this about was Gregory the Great, an eminent states- 
man as well as priest, who became pope in 590 a.d. We shall see 
how, many years later, the pope was made wholly independent of 
the Eastern emperor, and how his temporal power was greatly 
increased and placed on a lasting basis by the favor of a Prankish 
king.' 

355. The Anglo-Saxons in Britain (beginning 449 A.D.). — Before 
beginning the story of the Franks, it is necessary to learn something 
of the conquest of Britain by the Angles and the Saxons. Though 
Roman civilization and Christianity took no deep hold upon this 
island, the yoke of Rome had made the Celtic population weak and 
cowardly. Hence, when Honorius recalled his troops from Britain 
(411 A.D. ), the inhabitants of that part which had been subject to 
Rome could not defend themselves against the barbarians who 
assailed them on every side. Scots from Ireland, Picts from Scot- 
land, and Jute and Saxon pirates grievously distressed them, and 
threatened, in fact, to overrun the whole country. At length they 
called upon the Jutes, a German tribe, to help them against the 
Picts. The defenders became conquerors ; and their example was 

' § 359. 



Britain 453 

followed by their more numerous kinsmen, the Angles and the 
Saxons, who in time subdued and settled all the Romanized part 
of the island. The Britons who survived were pushed back or 
reduced to serfdom, so that little trace of them is left in the Eng- 
land which resulted from the conquest ; on the other hand, Wales, 
Scotland, and Ireland remained Celtic. The leaders of the invading 
bands became kings, each of the small district he had subdued. 
In time arose seven states, — the so-called Heptarchy, — which 
finally united in one kingdom. 

As the Angles and the Saxons, before the conquest, had lived in 
northern Germany, far away from the empire, they knew nothing 
of Christianity or of Roman civilization. Under them, therefore, 
Britain again became barbarous and pagan. The invaders brought 
to their new home the manners and institutions which had been 
theirs in the fatherland, and from which the English people of 
to-day have derived their government and law, scarcely touched by 
the influence of Rome. As to the religion of the Anglo-Saxon 
conquerors, the case was quite different. Pope Gregory the Great 
sent them missionaries, and others came to them from Ireland, 
which had already been Christianized. As there was some differ- 
ence between the Irish and Roman churches, strife ensued, in 
which Rome at length triumphed ; so that England became subject 
to the Roman church, acknowledging the pope as her supreme 
spiritual authority. It was no little gain to the cause of peace and 
civilization that when Britain was forever broken from the empire, 
religion reunited it to Rome. 

356. The Franks ; Clovis (481-51 1 A.D.). — It remains to follow 
the story of the Franks. 

Toward the end of the fifth century a.d., when the Franks were 
about to enter upon their great political career, they occupied both 
banks of the middle and lower Rhine. Not given to wandering as 
were the other Germans, they had contented themselves with grad- 
ually extending their territory. We find them divided into a number 



454 T^^^^ New German States 

of tribes, each under a chief. One of these petty sovereigns was 
Clo'vis. His Hfe-work was to be the founding of a united Prankish 
kingdom, embracing most of Gaul, together with a part of western 
Germany. 

Near him were the Romans, who still held a district in northern 
Gaul ; to the southeast dwelt the Burgundians, and to the south the 
Visigoths, whose territory included not only a large portion of Gaul, 
but most of Spain. The Vandals held Africa ; and Theodoric the 
Ostrogoth was soon to conquer Italy. Such was the condition of 
southwestern Europe at this time. 

In a battle at Soissons (pron. S7aas-so/i') Clovis conquered his 
Roman neighbors (486 a.d.). He then defeated the Burgundians, 
and made them tributary. In another war he brought under his rule 
most of the West-Goths who lived in Gaul. Many years he was 
engaged in these conquests. Meantime he was plotting against the 
chiefs of the other Prankish tribes. By having them murdered, one 
after another, he finally united in his own hands the authority of all. 
Thus through war and intrigue he did much to weld Celts, Romans, 
and Germans into the great Prankish nation. 

In the beginning of his reign he and his subjects were pagan. But 
he married the Burgundian princess Clo-til'da, who chanced to 
belong to the Roman church ; and when, somewhat later, he per- 
suaded himself that her God had helped him win a battle, he and 
three thousand of his warriors were baptized into her faith. It 
was as an orthodox Catholic that he conquered the Burgundians 
and the Visigoths, who were heretical Arians. This close alliance 
between the Prankish throne and the orthodox church was to 
have an important effect upon the whole history of the middle 
ages. 

Clovis was a barbarian ; though converted to Christianity, he 
remained treacherous and cruel to the end. Nevertheless, as the 
maker of a strong, influential nation, he did a priceless service to 
civilization. 



Charles Marie I 455 

357. The Merovingians to the Death of Dagobert (511-638 A.D.). 

— His descendants, who ruled for nearly two and a half centuries 
after him, carried on his work. They are called Mer-o-vin'gi-ans, 
from Mer'o-vig, grandfather of Clovis. For a time the members of 
the dynasty were able and energetic. The kingdom of the Franks 
prospered, and several German nations submitted to them. Then 
their conquests ceased ; instead of consolidating the great kingdom, 
rival heirs to the throne of Clovis began to murder one another and 
to waste the country in civil war. Their cruelty fills nearly a century 
of their country's history. Sometimes the heirs divided the prov- 
inces among themselves, and again a strong ruler would reunite the 
kingdom. The tendency was to a division into three loosely con- 
nected states, — Aus-tra'si-a, which was thoroughly German ; Neus'- 
tri-a, whose population contained an influential Roman element ; and 
Burgundy. The last important Merovingian king was Dag'o-bert, 
whose reign ended in 638. Thereafter the rulers of this dynasty 
were so weak and worthless as to earn the title of do-nothing 
kings. 

358. Charles Martel and the Mohammedans (to 732 A.D.). — As 
these rulers grew more and more feeble, the steward of the royal 
household, termed Mayor of the Palace, gradually took the manage- 
ment of public affairs into his own hands and became prime minister. 
In Austrasia the position came to be hereditary in a powerful family 
known to history as Car-o-lin'gi-an, from Charles the Great, its most 
illustrious member. The achievement of the early Carolingians was 
to reunite the Frankish nation. This work was completed by Mayor 
Charles, afterward surnamed Mar-tel'. It was an especially fortunate 
event, for the Franks needed their combined strength against the 
Mohammedans, who had recently conquered Spain and were now 
threatening all Europe. 

The Mohammedans were followers of Mo-ham 'med, who was 
born about 5 7 1 a.d., in Mec'ca, the holy city of Arabia. Before his 
time the Arabs were idolaters, but he presented himself to them as 



456 The Nezv German States 

the prophet of the one God. With a marvellous personality and a 
deep knowledge of the religious and moral needs of his people, he 
wrote and spoke as one inspired. His writings, which afterward 
composed the Ko'ran, he asserted to be a revelation from God ; to 
his followers they were what the Bible was to the Christians. As his 
church grew strong, he proclaimed that the faith should be forced 
upon unbelievers. " The sword," he declared, " is the key of heaven 
and hell ; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in 
arms, avails more than two months of fasting and prayer ; whosoever 
falls in battle, his sins are forgiven; at the day of judgment his 
wounds shall be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as musk ; 
and the loss of limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels." ^ 
Henceforth his followers rapidly increased. Some were attracted by 
faith, others by fear, and others by hope of conquest and plunder. 
Soon the army of believers spread the faith over Arabia, Syria, Persia, 
and as far into Asia as Alexander the Great had marched. But when 
they tried to conquer the Roman empire in the East, the walls of 
Constantinople withstood them. On the south shore of the Mediter- 
ranean, however, they met with little resistance. They conquered 
Egypt, and in the course of the seventh century a.d. the entire 
African coast to the Strait of Gi-bral'tar. Fierce religious enthusiasm 
swept them impatiently on. Early in the eighth century they crossed 
to Spain and readily overran the decayed kingdom of the Visigoths. 
Their empire now lay along the Mediterranean in a stupendous 
crescent, whose horns threatened Christian Europe east and west. 
When they invaded France, at first with their usual success, 
Christianity seemed doomed ; but a power existed with which the 
Saracens- had not reckoned, — the fresh, manly nation of Franks 
lately united under Mayor Charles. At his call, thousands of stalwart 
warriors gathered to repel the danger. The hosts met in battle near 
Poitiers (pron. Pwd-te-a') in 732 a.d. All day the light cavalry of 
the invaders dashed in vain against the immovable ranks of Frankish 
1 Cf. Gibbon, Roman Empire, ch. 1. "^ I.e , the Mohammedans. 



Pippin 457 

infantry. The Mohammedans lost vast numbers, including their able 
commander. They saw at once that they had met their superiors, 
and deserting their camp they retreated southward. The victory 
saved western Europe from conquest by the Mohammedans ; though 
they were still able to annoy, they were no longer dangerous. To 
Charles, the victor, after ages gave the name Martel — the Hammer — 
in remembrance of his blows which crushed all enemies. 

359. Pippin (741-768 A.D.). — Charles died in 741 a.d., and 
was succeeded by his son Pip'pin. Father and son pursued the same 
methods of building up the power of the Franks ; and we need not 
separate their work here. Outlying provinces which had revolted 
they reduced to submission ; they further strengthened the central 
authority by engaging the nobles in their service ; they brought the 
churches of the realm into one rehgious system, which, however, they 
held subordinate to the State ; and with the aid of religion they 
strove to uphft the morals of their people. 

Charles remained simply mayor to his death ; but Pippin deposed 
the royal Merovingian puppet, and himself became king by a double 
ceremony : the Franks elected him in their own fashion, and the 
Church anointed him with holy oil according to biblical usage. 
Thus he ascended the throne with the consent of the pope. In fact 
the relations between the papal see and the Frankish throne had 
been friendly from the days of Clovis, and now ripened into a close 
alliance. Charles Martel had been asked for help against the Lom- 
bards, who were besieging the pope in Rome. When another pope 
found himself threatened by the Lombards, he called on Pippin for 
aid. Thereupon the king of the Franks twice invaded Italy, took from 
the Lombards the country about Ravenna, — a territory they had 
wrested from the emperor, — and instead of restoring it to the rightful 
owner, he placed it under the rule of the pope. This dominion 
came to the pope in addition to the actual landed property of his 
office included under the term Patrimony of St. Peter. As he was 
now able to throw off all allegiance to the emperor, and as the gift of 



458 The Nezv German States 

Pippin was indeed vast, this donation ratlier than the earUer Patri- 
mony ' is generally considered the beginning of the pope's temporal 
power. The head of the Church now possessed great revenues, an 
army, and an influential place among the princes of this world. His 
temporal power lasted till 1870, when his dominicHis passed to Victor 
Em-man 'u-el, king of Italy. 

360. Charles the Great; King of the Franks (768-800 A.D.).— 
Charles, who succeeded his father Pippin in 768, is known to us as 
Charles the Great — Charlemagne (pron. Shar-le~7>ia>i'). From the 
fact that he stamped his character upon western Europe, and gave 
direction to the current of its history for centuries, we reckon him 
among the most eminent men of all time. 

He was a tall, strong man, with large, bright eyes and happy face. 
A tireless worker, he attended in person to all the duties of govern- 
ment, learned the needs of his subjects, and saw that every one had 
justice. His ability in government was directed by a well-considered 
purpose of educating his people and improving their religious and 
moral condition. 

One of his aims was to round out his kingdom on the east by the 
conquest of Saxony. Early in his reign, accordingly, he began the 
war, which lasted with many interruptions more than thirty years 
(772-803 A.D.). To conquer an enemy who would not meet him in 
open fight, who loved freedom and kindred above every law or 
treaty obligation, was a wearisome task. At length, however, it was 
done; the Saxons accepted Christianity and the firm, just rule of 
Charlemagne. Early in the Saxon war, in an interval of quiet, 
Charlemagne invaded Spain to support a faction of Mohammedans 
against the central government (778 a.d.). The campaign was a 
failure ; and while recrossing the Alps the army fell into an ambus- 
cade which the mountain Basques had laid for it in a gorge at Ron- 
ces-val'les. The king lost his baggage-train and many men. Among 
the officers killed was one who under the name of Ro'land afterward 

' § 354- 




i„r,«, i (,'.... v.r. 



Charles the Great 



459 



became a famous hero of romance. Notwithstanding the failure of 
this expedition, later efforts pushed the Prankish border some dis- 
tance south of the Pyrenees. 

A few years before the Spanish campaign he conquered the 
Lombards, in response to another call of the pope for help against 
them. Charlemagne himself put on the iron crown of Lombardy, 
though he still remained king of the Franks (774 a.d.). 

361. Charles, Emperor of the Romans (800-814 A.D.). — On 
Christmas Day, 800 a.d., while he was kneeling at prayer in the 




The Iron Crown of Lombardy 

The inner circle of iron said to have been made from a nail of the True Cross 

(Cathedral of Monza) 

Church of St. Peter, Pope Leo III crowned him Emperor of the 
Romans. In one sense this was a revival of the Roman empire of 
the West : Roman learning, law, and government continued in it. 
In another sense it was Germanic : the dominant race was German ; 
the Frankish nation, which had brought about this union of the 
races, remained the most thoroughly German of all the invaders ; 



460 The New German States 

much of the strength, the vitaUty, and the free Hfe of the Germans 
animated this empire, at once new and old. For a capital, so far 
as he needed one, Charlemagne preferred Aa'chen, — Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle', — or some other German city, to Rome. His heart was 
German ; his mind only was Roman. In his system, too, the idea 
of Christendom largely supplanted that of the Roman world. His 
dominion was not the same in extent as the empire of the West ; 
for it left out Britain, most of Spain, all Africa, and a part of Italy ; 
on the other hand, it included Germany, as far at least as the Elbe, 
— a vast territory Rome had tried in vain to conquer. Not least 
among his services, Charlemagne so massed the strength of the 
Germans that they could ward off the Slavs and the Turanians, who 
pressed upon them from the east. 

The most interesting feature of his government was his relation to 
the pope. Following the example of his forefathers, Charlemagne 
made himself temporal head of the Church as thoroughly as of the 
State. He controlled the clergy and presided over the religious 
councils which regulated sacred affliirs. The pope was spiritual 
adviser, whose religious sanctions added weight to the acts of the 
emperor. Thus the Church was still subordinate to the State ; the 
struggle for supremacy between the emperor and the pope belonged 
to the future. 

Though some years after his death his country was divided, the 
idea and the influenee of the empire 7i>ere permanent. Thereafter 
men held persistently to the belief in a unity of Christian nations 
under one head, — this was the controlling idea of the Middle Ages. 
Formally the empire of Charlemagne continued till Napoleon Bona- 
parte destroyed it in 1806, a thousand years after its founding. 

362. The Empire in the East after Justinian ; Wars with the Persians 
and the Mohammedans (565-718 A.D.). — \Vhile the German nations were 
establishing themselves in the West, preparatory to their union under Charle- 
magne, the empire in the East was slowly decaying. Wars and excessive taxes 
still weakened it. The barbarians continued their invasions. Hordes of Slavs 
made their homes in the provinces south of the Danube, 



Persians and Mohammedans 



461 



Meanwhile the Persians overran the eastern provinces, and the emjierors 
could do nothing to stay their advance. The crisis came in the reign of Her-a- 
cli'us (610-641 A.D.). For ten years after his accession the Persians gained 
ground. They not only held Mesopotamia, Syria, and Asia Minor, but even 
seized Jerusalem and conquered Egypt. The loss of the rich valley of the Nile 
seemed fatal to the empire; but the capture of the holy city roused the Chris- 
tians to a crusade for its recovery. In violation of court etiquette, Her-a-cli'us 
took the field in person, and in a succession of campaigns displayed a military 
genius the empire had not seen since Julius Caesar. He recovered the lost 
provinces, and compelled Persia to sue for peace. 

In the following year the Mohatnmedatts first assailed the empire, and at the 
same time attacked Persia. Neither of the great powers could withstand the 




Persian Warriors 
(National Museum, Naples) 

fierce onset of the Arabs. Year after year the fanatics of the desert renewed 
their attacks in greater numbers and with increasing fury, till Persia was forever 
humbled, and Heraclius, old and feeble from sickness, saw the dreaded enemy 
in possession of Mesopotamia, Syria, and even Egypt. After his death, the 
Moslems, while sweeping over northern Africa into Spain, advanced their empire 
to the gates of Constantinople. Early in the eighth century a hundred thousand 
Mohammedans marched to besiege the capital of the empire, and a thousand of 
their ships blockaded the Bosporus. Leo the I-sau'ri-an (717-741 a.d.), who 
came to the throne at this time, was equal to the emergency. A\'hile his Greek 
fire burned a great part of their armada, he drove their land forces back with 



462 TJic Nezv German States 

terrible slaughter. Thus Leo in 718, as Charles Martel fourteen years afterward, 
saved Christendom from being overwhelmed by the Moslems. 

363. Image-breaking. — After the victory Leo applied himself to adminis- 
tration. To purify the Christian religion from what he considered superstition, 
he ordered all holy images to be removed or destroyed, and all pictures on 
church walls to be obliterated. Hence he is called the first i-con-o-clas'tic or 
image-breaking emperor. Although Italy defied the order, he enforced it against 
great opposition throughout the East. The three following rulers, who were of 
his dynasty, continued the war alike upon the Saracens and upon images. This 
zeal caused a rupture between the churches of the East and West, for the pope 
of Rome and the Western clergy favored the use of images. But when the 
empress Irene took the reins of government, at first as regent for her son Con- 
stantine VI, 1 she revived image-worship. The Slavs and the Saracens ravaged 
her country, and Charlemagne set up a rival empire in the West. 

But her empire was naturally strong. Roman organization, discipline, and 
experience in administration accumulated through hundreds of years, kept the 
state alive for centuries after Irene, amid wars and barbarian invasions : and the 
state on its part preserved for the modern world a remnant of the vast treasure 
of ancient civilization. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Mohammed. — Emerton, Introduction to the Middle ^ges, pp. 122-126: 
Gilman, Sarmens (Story of the Nations), chs. iv-xx; Oman, European History, 
pp. 213-220; Ciibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. 1. 

II. Charlemagne. — Emerton, chs. xiii, xiv; Adams, Groivth of the Fretich 
N'ation, ch. iv ; Oman, European History, chs. xx-xxii ; Davis, Charlemagne, 
(Heroes of the Nations). 

1 Constantine VI, 780-797 ; Irene, 797-802 A.D. 




Peristyle of a House in Pompeii 
(House of the Vetti) 



CHAPTER XVI 



PRIVATE AND SOCIAL LIFE 



In the Late Republic and Early Empire 



364. The Family. — The greatness of Rome in the best days of 
the republic was largely due to the character of the family. As in 
Sparta, strong, healthy children alone were permitted to live. Father ^ 
and mother were careful to train them in the stern, simple virtues 
which made good soldiers and great citizens. In the early republic 
girls and boys received all their instruction from their parents ; but 
in course of time private schools were opened. After the children 
had learned reading, writing, and arithmetic, they advanced to the 
study of literature, including Greek and Latin authors ; and finally 
the boy was instructed in composition and oratory as a preparation 
1 On the power of the father, see § 222. 
463 



464 Private and Social Life 

for public life. Toward the end of the republic there were in 
wealthy fiimilies educated slaves and paid rhetoricians and philoso- 
phers who attended to the various grades of instruction till the 
youth was ready to put the finishing touches to his education in the 
schools of Athens, Rhodes, or some other cultured Hellenic city. 
/ The customs and ceremonies of marriage closely resembled those 
of Greece. Though early usage placed the wife in the power of her 
husband, she went freely into society, attended the theatres and 
public games, taught her children, and sometimes aided her husband 
in his political career. Her position as mistress of the household 
commanded respect from the government as well as from society. 

Under the empire the fother came to have less power over the 
members of his family ; children were treated more kindly at home 
and in school ; but the strict morality of old Rome had disappeared. 
Roman society became tlioroughly corrupt : men and women sought 
pleasure not only in extravagant luxuries, but even in monstrous 
vices and crimes. Morals were probably at their worst in the early 
empire. In the reign of Vespasian society was already growing 
better. 

365. The House. — The private life of the Romans was far more 
secluded from public view than ours is. The traveller who walks the 
narrow streets of Pompeii sees on both sides plain walls with no win- 
dows on the first floor. Two thousand years ago a visitor at one of 
these houses came first to the vestibule, a narrow entrance court from 
which a hall led to the heavy oaken door. As the visitor approached, 
the porter, roused from a nap in his little lodge, opened the door. 
The dog growled, or in place of the living animal, the guest perhaps 
saw the creature represented in mosaic on the pavement, with the 
words, " Beware of the dog — cave cancm ! " 

The guest entered the a'tri-um, where he found the lord of the 
house ready to welcome him. This room was roofed o\er, with 
the exception of an opening in the centre, which admitted the light 
and through which the rain poured into a square basin in the floor. 



The House 



465 



In the middle of the basin was a fountain adorned with beautiful 
reliefs ; and the entire atrium was richly decorated with costly pillars, 
statues, paintings, and purple hangings. On the floor were fine 
mosaics. 

Adjoining the atrium and in various quarters of the house were 
dining rooms termed Iri-clin'i-a, each containing at least one table. 
Three sides of the table were occupied by couches on which the 




A k(jMAN Meal 



luxurious Romans reclined while eating their sumptuous repasts. A 
board on the fourth side held the costly vases and curiosities of the 
proprietor ; and the whole room was lavishly adorned with works of 
art. 

The per'i-style was an inner court planted with trees and flowers, 
and surrounded by a colonnade. Round this court were the sleeping 
rooms and other private apartments of the women, whereas those of 
the men were grouped about the atrium. There were also a kitchen, 
bathrooms, and sometimes a library. This description applies to the 



466 



Private and Social Life 



first floor. The upper rooms are not so well known, and they were 
certainly less attractive. 

366. The Slaves. — The care of a lordly residence required the 
service of a multitude of slaves. Many were needed to admit the 
guests, many to care for the baths, bedrooms, kitchen, and dining 
rooms, as well as for the personal service of the various members of 
the family. On going out the master or mistress was accompanied 




Ilorsi', FrKMTrRE 
(From Pompeii) 

by a throng of servants, whose number and splendid livery advertised 
the rank and wealth of their owner. Other companies of slaves spun 
wool, made clothes, kept the house in repair, and cared for the sick. 
There were some whose task was to enforce order and quiet among 
the rest. 

As a rule the master treated his slaves with great cruelty. For the 
slightest offences he whipped, tortured, or crucified them. In the 
country they often worked in gangs chained together, and slept in 
crowded, filthy dungeons. Under the empire, however, men and 



Social Life 



467 



women gradually learned to treat their slaves with greater kindness. 
Claudius and other emperors after him made laws to protect them, 
till at last they came to be regarded as human beings. Con- 
stantine the Great forbade the separation of slave families. 

It often happened that a slave won his freedom by faithful service 
or purchased it with his savings. He then became a client of his 
former master, whose business he usually helped manage. The 
freedmen formed a large, intelligent 
class, socially inferior to freemen, 
but very enterprising and in- 
fluential. 

367. Social Life and Amuse- 
ments. — The imperial household, 
like that of any noble, depended 
on the labor of slaves and freed- 
men. In the morning the emperor 
received the magistrates, senators, 
courtiers, and friends. In the same 
manner the nobles received their 
clients, who if poor were given 
their daily allowance of twenty-five 
as'ses, — the equivalent of a dinner ; 
candidates for office came likewise 
to ask for the favor of the rich 
man's influence. Every morn- 
ing, accordingly, the streets were 
thronged with these crowds of early 
callers. In the afternoon the master of a house entertained his 
friends at dinner, or perhaps accepted an invitation to dine out. 
The banquet of the Romans resembled that of Greece, but was 
far more magnificent and expensive. Though the wealthy Romans 
occasionally attended the theatres, they preferred to spend their time 
in the pubHc baths or at the races in the Circus Maximus or at the 




( I\LI \\\ V k\ 

(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



468 Private and Social Life 

gladiatorial fights in the Colosseum, In the hot season all who 
could afford it forsook the city, some for their villas, others for the 
seaside resorts, the most famous of which was Bai'ae. 

368. Death. — At some time a man had to give up his business 
or pleasure, and die. Kinsmen and friends took part in the funeral 
procession. The dancers, the music, the acting of the mimes, whose 
leader mimicked the deceased, the waxen masks worn by persons 
dressed to represent the ancestors, the wailing of hired mourners — 
all combined to make the ceremony at once solemn and grotesque. 
A near kinsman pronounced a eulogy on the deceased ; the corpse 
was burned on the funeral pyre ; and an urn containing the ashes was 
deposited in the family tomb. 

Summary of Ancient History 

Ancient history is a unit comprising three closely related parts, — 
the Orient, Greece, and Rome. It was the task of the Oriental 
peoples in the remote past to make a beginning of political organiza- 
tion, of the useful and fine arts, of all the elements of civilization. 
Their work, as that of beginners, was necessarily imperfect. The 
Greeks, improving upon their ideas and inventions, developed the 
first European civilization. They excelled in industry and com- 
merce, in literature, art, and education, and in the creation of ideals ; 
the most valuable of all their productions is the ideal of political and 
intellectual liberty. In Greece the individual and the free city reached 
a many-sided and almost perfect development. Falling at last under 
the power of the Romans, Greece led her conquerors captive, trained 
them in her immortal ideas, and enriched their lives with her culture. 
After taking these lessons of the Greeks, the Romans became teachers 
of the European nations. Though they were stern masters, often 
selfish and unscrupulous, the training they gave was most valuable. 
From them Europe learned the arts of peace as well as of war, — 
lessons in building good dwellings and substantial public works, in 




^^ 



Summary 



469 



forming courts of justice and municipal governments, lessons in law, 
in administration, in obedience to authority, and finally intellectual 
education and the Christian religion. As Rome grew old and declined 
in power, her influence extended and deepened ; and when she fell, 
the heritage of her civilization and discipline passed equally to Romans 
and Teutons — her children by birth and adoption. Grown to man- 
hood, these sons of Rome and Germania form to-day the great family 
of Christian nations in Europe and the Americas. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The House. — Preston and Dodge, Private Life of the Romans, ch. ii; 
Becker, Gallus, Scene ii; Guhl and Koner, Life of the Greeks and Romans, % 75 f.; 
Mau, Pompeii, its Life and Art, Pt. ii (Pompeian Houses). 

II. Roman Dress. — Preston and Dodge, ch. iv; Becker, Scene vi and excursus, 
Scene viii and excursus; Inge, Society in Rome under the Caesars, pp. 258-262; 
Guhl and Koner, § 95. 

III. Schools and Books. — Preston and Dodge, pp. 58-66; Inge, pp. 172- 
178; Thomas, Roman LJfe under the Caesars, ch. ix ; Church, Roman Life in 
the Days of Cicero, chs. i, ii ; Becker, Gallus, Scene iii and excursus i-iii. 




A Well-cuku 
(Vatican Museum, Rome) 



CHIEF EVENTS IX ANCIENT HISTORY 



(The great periods are in italics. Most dates before looo B.C. are more or less approximate.) 



THE ORIENT 

B.C. 

4800 First dynasty in 
Egypt. 

3S00 Sargon. king of 
Accad in Chal- 
dea. 

2778-2565 Twelfth dy- 
nasty in Egypt. 

1587-1328 Eighteenth 
dynasty in 
Egypt. 



1 1 50 The Hebrews con- 
quer Canaan. 

1 125 Tiglath-Pileser I, 
king of Assyria. 

1122-256 Chow dynas- 
ty in China. 



1000 Tyre becomes 
prominent. 



GREECE 



1 500-1 000 Mycenaean 
Age; first pe- 
riod of coloni- 
sation. 



1000-700 Epic Age. 
776^ First Olympiad. 



ROME 



753 (?) Founding of 
Rome. 



1 This is the point from which the Greeks reckoned time, as we do from the 
birth of Christ. An Olympiad — period of four years — was the period between 
two successive festivals at Olympia. 

470 



Events 



471 



553-529 Cyrus, king of 
Persia. 



THE ORIENT GREECE 



750-550 Second pe- 
riod of coloni- 
zation. 

722-705 Sargon, king 

of Assyria. 621 Draco codifies the 

604-562 Nebucliad- laws of Athens, 

nezzar, king of 594 Solon archon of 
Babylon. Athens. 

560-5 1 o Pis i stratus 
and his sons ty- 
rants of Athens. 

550 Sparta head of 
Peloponnese. 

508 Cleisthenes re- 
forms the gov- 
ernment of 
Athens. 
499-494 Ionic revolt 
490-479 Great war between Greece and Persia. 
490 Battle of Marathon. 
480 Battle of Thermopylae, of Artemisium, of 

Salamis, and of Himera. 
479 Battle of Plataea and of Mycale. 

477-454 (?) Confeder- 
acy of Delos. 
461-431 Age of Peri- 
cles. 
454 (?) The Confed- 
eracy of Delos 
becomes the 
Athenian em- 
pire. 



ROME 

B.C. 

753(?)-509 The seven 
kings of Rome. 



509-264 First period 
of the republic ; 
Ro)ne becomes sn- 
preme in Italy. 



451-449 The Decemvirs. 



472 



Chief Events in Anciejit History 



THE ORIENT 



GREECE 



B.C. 

445 Thirty Years' 
Truce between 
Athens and 
Sparta. 

431-404 Peloponne- 
sian War. 

421 Peace of Nicias. 

415-413 Sicilian Ex- 
pedition. 

411 Rule of the Four 
Hundred at 
Athens. 

405 Battle of Aegos- 
potami. 

404 Peace between 
Athens and 
Sparta. 

404-371 Supremacy of 
Sparta. 

404-403 The Thirty 
at Athens. 
401 Expedition of Cyrus the younger. 

I 395-387 The Corin- 
I thian War. 

387 Treaty of Antalcidas. 

371 Battle of Leuctra. 

371-362 Thebes at- 
tempts to lead 
the Greeks. 

362 Battle of Mantin- 
eia ; endof The- 
ban greatness. 

359-336 Philip, king 
of Macedon. 



338 Battle of Chaero- 
neia. 



ROME 



443 First censors. 



431 Battle of Mt. Al- 
gidus. 



405 (?)-396 Siege of 
Veii. 



390 Sack of Rome by 
the Gauls. 



367 The Licinian-Sex- 
tian Laws. 



342-341 First Samnite 

War. 
340-338 Great Latin 

War. 



J^, 



THE ORIENT 



Events 

GREECE 



473 



B.C. I B.C. 

I 336-323 Alexander, 
333 Battle of Issus. king of Mace- 

331 Battle of Arbela. don. 



301 Battle of Ipsus. 



ROME 



326-304 Second Sam- 
nite War. 

298-290 Third Samnite 
War. 

287 The Hortensian 
Law. 

281-272 War between 
Rome and Taren- 
tum. 

264-133 Second -period 
of the republic ; 
the expansio}i of 
RoiTie outside of 
Italy and the 
growth of plutoc- 
racy. 

264-241 First Punic 
War. 

218-201 Second Punic 
War. 

218 Battle of the Ticinus 
and of the Trebia. 

217 Battle of Lake Tras- 
imene. 

216 Battle of Cannae. 

207 Battle of the Metau- 
rus. 

202 Battle of Zama. 

201 Peace between 
Rome and Car- 
thage. 



474 Chief Evetits in Ancient History 

GREECE AND ROME 

197 Battle of Cynoscephalae. 

198 Battle of Magnesia. 
168 Battle of Pydna. 

146 The Romans destroy Carthage and Corinth. 

ROME 

133 The Romans destroy Numantia in Spain. 

'^ZZ-'^l Third period of the republic; the revolution from republic to 
empire. 

133 Tiberius Gracchus tribune of the plebs. 

123-122 Gains Gracchus tribune of the plebs. 

91-88 The Social War. 

82-79 Sulla dictator. 

63 Cicero consul ; the conspiracy of Catiline. 

58-50 Conquest of Gaul. 

48 Battle of Pharsalus. 

3 1 Battle of Actium. 

27 B.C. -41 A.D. Julian eviperors ; dyarchy. 
27 B.C. -14 A.D. Augustus emperor. 

A.U. 

9 Overthrow of \'arus b\" the Germans. 

14-37 Tiberius emperor. 

41-96 The Claudia n and Flavian emperors; from dyarchy to tnon- 
archy. 

41-54 Claudius emperor. 

54-68 Nero emperor. 

69-79 Vespasian emperor. 

79 Eruption of Vesuvius. 

96-180 The Good Emperors ; limited monarchy. 

98-117 Trajan emperor. 

1 17-138 Hadrian emperor. 

1 38-1 61 Antoninus Pius emperor. 

161-180 ^Marcus Aurelius Antoninus emperor. 



Events 475 

180-284 From Coiniiiodus to Aiiretiaii ; decline of the empire; growth 

of absolute monarchy. 
211-217 Caracalla emperor; all freemen of the empire become Roman 

citizens. 
222-235 Alexander Severus emperor ; the new Persian empire founded. 

284-337 From Diocletian to Constantine ; reconstruction of the empire — 

absolute monarchy. 
284-305 Diocletian emperor. 

313 Edict of Milan granting the Christians toleration. 

324-327 Constantine sole emperor. 
325 The council of Nicaea. 

337-476 The invasions of the barbarians ; the dissolution of the empire 
in the M^^est. 

376 The Visigoths cross the Danube. 

395 Division of the empire between Arcadius and Honorius, sons of 

Theodosius. 
408-410 Alaric besieges and plunders Rome. 
410 The Vandals and Sueves settle in Spain. 

418 The Visigoths settle in Gaul. 

429 The Vandals invade Africa. 

449 The Saxons invade Britain. 

451 Attila the Hun invades Gaul ; battle of Chalons. 

476 Romulus " Augustulus" deposed ; reunion of the East and West ; 

Odoacer patrician and king of Italy. 

476-800 The new Germati stations to the founding of the empire of 

Charlemagne. 

493-453 Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy. 

496 Clovis accepts Christianity. 

527-565 Justinian I emperor. 

568 The Lombards invade Italy. 

610-641 Heraclius emperor. 

622 Mohammed flees from Mecca to Medina (the Hegira^). 

711 The Mohammedans invade Spain. 

732 Battle of Poitiers (Tours). 

768-800 Charles the Great king of the Franks. 

800 Charles the Great crowned emperor of the Romans. 

1 The date of the Hegira — flight of Mohammed — is the point from which the 
Mohammedans reckon time. 



INDEX 



(The numbers refer to the pages.) 



Aa'chen, 460. 

A'bra-ham, 28. 

Ab'sa-Iom, 29. 

Academy, 229. 

A-car-na'ni-a, 44. 

Ac'cad, 16, 19. 

Ac-ca'di-ans, see Sumerians. 

A-chae'a, A-chae'ans, 46, 53, 243; colo- 
nies of, 66 ; alliance with Athens, 147 ; 
Achaean League, 243, 330, 332. 

A-chil'les, 59. 

Ac'ra-gas (Ag-ri-gen'tum), 67; taken by 
Carthaginians, 191. 

A-crop'o-lis of Athens, 56; seized by Cy- I A-grip'pa, 375, 386. 
Ion, 82; by Pisistratus, 89; besieged by - A-grip-pi'na, 393. 
Cleomenes, 92; by Athenian commons, j Ah'ri-man, 34. 



Aes-cu-la'pi-us, 313. 

Ae'sis River, 296. 

A-e'ti-us, 438, 441. 

Ae-to'li-a, 43, 242 ; Aetolian League, 243. 

A('ri-ca, Roman province, 334, 337, 438. 

Ag-a-mem'non, 59, 60. 

Ages, Stone, Bronze, etc., i. 

A-ges-i-la'us, 202-205, 209, 213. 

A'gis, 176, 180. 

A-gra'ri-an Law of Cassius, 301 ; of Lici- 

nius, 308 ; of Tiberius Gracchus, 350. 
Ag-ric'o-la, 398. 
Agrigentum, see Acragas. 



82,93; beautified by Pericles, 154; Ital- 
ian, 256. 

Ac'ti-um, battle of 375. 

Ad-her'bal, 318. 

A-dras'tus, 56. 

Ae'diles, plebeian, 301 ; curule, 309, 342. 

Ae-e'tes, 58. 

Ae-ga'ti-an Islands, battle of the, 319. 

Ae-ge'an Sea, 26; navigation in, 65; col- 
onies about, 69 ; an Athenian lake, 147. 

Ae-gi'na, jealotisy of Athens, 119; con- 
quered by Athens, 145, 147 ; Aeginetans 
at Salamis, 130. 

Ae-gos-pot'a-mi, battle of 184. 

Ae-gyp'tus, 53. 

Ae-mil'i-us (father) , 324 ; Lucius A. Paulus 
(son), 331. 



Ae-ne'as, 265, 387. 
Ae-o'li-ans, 52, 65. 
Ae'qui-ans, 262, n. 

mans, 281, 283. 
Aes'chy-lus, 157. 



A-hu'ra-Maz'da, 34. 

A'lans, 438. 

Ara-ric, 435-437- 

Al'ba Lon'ga, 258, 265. 

Al'boin, 451. 

Al-cae'us, 107. 

Al-ci-bi'a-des, 169, 172-175, 179-183. 

Alc-me-on'i-dae, a family (genos) of 

Athens, 82, 93. 
Al-e-man'ni, 418, 428, 433. 
Al-ex-an'derof Macedon, 233-240; ascends 

the throne, 233 ; invades Asia, 234 ; at 

Arbela, 236 ; achievements, 239. 
Al-ex-an'dri-a, founded, 236; culture of, 

245-247; Caesar in, 370. 
Al'gi-dus, Mt., 281, 283. 
Alien residents at Athens, 153, 200. 
Alphabet, Egyptian, 4; cuneiform, 18; 

Phoenician, 27; Chinese, 37. 
I, 280; wars with Ro- Al-phei'us River, 77. 

Alps crossed by Hannibal, 321. 
A-ma'sis, 7. 
476 



Index 



A77 



Am-bra'ci-ots defeated, i66. 

A-men'em-hat' III, 7. 

Ajp'mon, temple of, 7, 8. 

Am-phic'ty-on, 52. 

Am-phic'ty-o-ny, see League, religious. 

Am-phip'o-lis, 167. 

A-myn'tas, 220. 

An-ab'a-sis of Xenophon, 202, 228. 

An-ax-ag'o-ras, 158, 159. 

An'cus Mar'ti-us, 267. 

An'dro-cles, 180. 

An'gles, 445, 452. 

An'glo-Sax'ons in Britain, 452. 

An'i-o River, 258. 

An-tal'ci-das, treaty of, 205, 208. 

An-tig'o-nus, 240. 

An'ti-och, 241. 

An-ti'o-chus III, 330. 

An-tip'a-ter, 242. 

An'ti-um, 286. 

An-to-ni'nus Pi'us, 405. 

An'to-ny, Mark, 370, 373-375- 

An'u, 19. 

Ap'en-nines Mts., 263. 

Aph-ro-di'te (Latin Venus), ^i; adopted 

by Romans, 313. 
A'pis, 13. 
A-pol'lo, 51 ; father of Ion, 73 ; Delphic, 

74-76, 92 ; adopted by Romans, 262, 313. 
Ap'pi-an, 410. 
Ap'pf-an Way, 290, 311, 379; Aqueduct, 

3"- 
Aq'uae Sex'ti-ae, battle of, 355. 
Aqueduct, 347, 384, 403, 449 ; of Pisistratus, 

91; Appian, 311, 379; Claudian, 393. 
Aq-ui-lei'a, 442. 
A-ra'bi-a, 15 ; home of the Semites, 27 ; 

Roman province, 401. 
A-ra'bi-an Gulf, 15. 
Ar'abs, 2, n. i, 27, 455. 
Ar-a-mae'ans, 2, n. i, 26, 29. 
A-ra'tus, 243. 
Ar-be'la, battle of, 236. 
Ar-ca'di-a, 45 ; joins Peloponnesian 

League, 102 ; inhabitants, 102, 213 ; 

Arcadian League, 214. 
Ar-ca'di-us, 430, 435. 
Arches, triumphal, 426. 
Ar-chi-da'mus, 142, 163. 
Ar-chil'o-chus, 107. 
Ar-chi-me'des, 326. 



Architecture, Egyptian, 5, 7, 8 ; Chaldean 
and Assyrian, 21-24; Persian, 32-34; 
early Greek, 109; orders of Greek, 109, 
155; under Pericles, 154-156; in Pelo- 
ponnesian War, 187 ; in fourth century, 
230; Roman, beginnings, 275,378; late 
republican, 379; Augustan, 384-386; 
Flavian, 397; under Trajan, 403; Ha- 
drian, 404; late imperial, 426, 449. 

Ar'chons of Athens, 79, 87, 94; change in 
mode of appointment, 123; decline of, 
123, 150. 

A-re-op'a-gus, council of, 79; fall of, 142, 
150; hill in Athens, 83. 

A'res (Latin Mars), 51. 

Ar-gi-nu'sae, battle of, 183. 

Ar'go, Ar'go-nauts, voyage of, 58. 

Ar-gol'ic Gulf, 46. 

Ar'go-lis, 46; settlement of, 53; League 
of, 76. 

Ar'gos, 46, 140; head of Argolis, 76; war 
with Sparta, 103; in Persian War, 119, 
126; alliance with Athens, 145, 147, 169. 

A-ri-ad'ne, 57. 

A-rim'i-num, 323, 343. 

A-ri-o-vis'tus, 368. 

Ar-is-tag'o-ras, 115. 

Ar-is-tei'des, character, 123, 140, 143; op- 
poses Themistocles, 124, 140; embassy 
to Sparta, 135; wins naval leadership 
for Athens, 137; his assessment, 138. 

Ar-is-toc'ra-cy, early Greek, 63; Athenian, 
79-88 ; Lacedaemonian, loi ; Roman, 

311- 
Ar-is-to-de'mus, 55. 
Ar-is-to-gei'ton, 91. 
Ar-is-toph'a-nes, 172, 187. 
Ar'is-tot-le, 234, 245. 
A-ri'us, or A'ri-us, 423; Arianism, 423, 

430. 433- 

Ar-me'ni-a, 401. 

Ar-min'i-us, 382. 

Arms, Greek, 97, n. 2; Roman, 276, 285. 

Army, Egyptian, 11; Assyrian, 21; Per- 
sian, 125; Athenian, 87, 105, 121, 163, 
204; Spartan (Peloponnesian), 99, 105, 
127, 131, 163, 204; Theban, 210; Mace- 
donian, 225 ; Roman, 272 ; Servian, 276 ; 
reformed by Camillus, 285, 287 ; by Ma- 
rias, 355; of Hannibal, 321. 

Ar-re'ti-um, 323. 



478 



Index 



Art, Egyptian, 5, 8, 13; Chaldean and As- 
syrian, 21-25; Phoenician, 26; Persian, 
32-34 ; Chinese, 39 ; early Greek, 109 ; 
under Pericles, 154-157 ; in Peloponne- 
sian War, 187 ; in fourth century, 230- 
232; Hellenistic, 245; Etruscan, 260; 
Roman, beginnings of, 347, 378 ; late 
republican, 379; Augustan, 384-386; 
Flavian, 397; under the good emperors, 
410-412; late imperial, 426. See Archi- 
tecture, Painting, Sculpture. 

Ar-ta-pher'nes, 120. 

Ar-tax-erx'es (fourth century B.C.), 201, 
205; (third century A. D.), 416. 

Ar'te-mis (Latin Diana), 51. 

Ar-te-mis'i-um, battle of, 126, 128. 

A'ry-ans, 2, n. i, 3, 32, 35, 39, 254. 

As (Roman coin), 303, 312, 467. 

As'cu-lum, battle of, 294. 

A'si-a, Roman province, 337. 

Asia Minor, country and people, 16 ; under 
Roman protectorate, 330. 

As-pa'si-a, 159. 

Assembly, prehistoric Greek, 62; early 
Athenian, 81; under Solon, 86, 87; 
under Cleisthenes, 95; under Pericles, 
151; Spartan, loi, 163; Roman, see 
Comitia ; German, 432. 

As'shur, 21. 

As'shur-ban'i-pal, 18. 

As-syr'i-ans, 2, n. i ; conquer Egypt, 9 ; 
country of, 15; supremacy, 17; political 
organization, 17, 25; civilization, 18-25; 
cruelty of kings, 25. 

As-tar'te, see Ishtar. 

Astronomy, Egyptian, 14; Chaldean, 24. 

A'taulf, 430, 437. 

Ath-a-na'si-us, 423. 

A-the'na, Pallas, 51; goddess of Athens, 
57, 155, 157; of Boeotian League, 76; 
altar on Athenian Acropolis, 82 ; patron 
of Pisistratus, 89 ; temples of, on Acropo- 
lis, 158. 

Ath'ens, heroes of, 56; includes all Attica, 
76; kingship in, 79; aristocracy, 79-85 
laws codified, 82; under Solon, 85-88 
under Pisistratus and his sons, 89-92 
under Cleisthenes, 93-95 ; joins Pelo- 
ponnesian League, 105 ; in Ionic revolt, 
116-118; in Persian War, 120-132; for- 
tified, 135-137, 140; head of Delian Con- 



federacy, 137-144; under Pericles, 145- 
160; in Peloponnesian War, 161-186; 
under the Thirty, 200; in Corinthian 
War, 203 ; second confederacy of, 208 ; 
at war with Philip, 221-226; under 
Demosthenes, 222; loses battle of Chae- 
roneia, 227; ally of Rome, 328. 

A'tri-um, 464. 

At'ti-ca, 45; united under Athens, 76; in- 
vaded by Peloponnesians, 104, 163. 

At'ti-la, 441-443. 

Au'fi-dus River, 324. 

Au'gurs, Au'spi-ces, 275. 

Au-gus'tine, St., 436. 

Au-gus'tu-Ius, 431. 

Au-gus'tus, 375, 381-389 ; provinces under, 
382 ; public works, 384-387 ; literature, 
388 ; imperial title, 375, 405, 420, 431, 
444; see Octavius. 

Au'lis, 59. 

Au-re'li-an, 418. 

Au-re'li-us, Marcus, 405-409, 410. 

Aus-tra'si-a, 455. 

Av'en-tine Mt., 276. 

A-ves'ta, 35. 

Bab'y-lon, 16, 31 ; conquered by Assyria, 

17; supremacy, 18; civilization, 18-25; 

rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar, 23; yields 

to Alexander, 238. 
Bac'chus, 347. 
Bac'tri-a, 238. 
Bai'ae, 468. 
Bal-lis'ta, 193. 

Banquet, Athenian, 251 ; Roman, 467. 
Ba-sil'i-ca, Julian, 385; of Constantine, 

426. 
Basques, 458. 
Bel, 19; temple of, 24. 
Bel'gi-ans, 368. 
Bel-i-sa'ri-us, 448. 
Bel-shaz'zar, 31. 
Ben-e-ven'tum, battle of, 294. 
Ben'ja-min, tribe of, 28. 
Bible, 19, 30, 246, 433. 
Bishop, 422. 
Bi-thyn'i-a, 330, 364. 
Black Sea (Eux'ine), 69. 
Blan-di'na, 409. 
Boe'o-tarchs, 208. 
Boe-o'ti-a, 44, 55; ally of Lacedaemon, 



Index 



479 



163; overrun by Phocians, 222; Boeo- 
tian League, 76, 146. 

Bo-e'thi-us, 448. 

Bon'i-face, 438. 

Bos'po-rus, 69; bridged by Darius, 114. 

Bou-le', see Council, Greek. 

Boy, Spartan, 98 ; Athenian, 248 ; Roman, 
463; see Children. 

Bras'i-das, 167. 

Bren'nus, 284. 

Britain, tin from, 27 ; conquered by Romans, 
369,393,398; fortified, 404 ; abandoned 
by Romans, 435, 452 ; settled by Anglo- 
Saxons, 452. 

Brotherhoods (phratries), Greek, 73, 80; 
(curiae) Roman, 271. 

Bru'tus, Lucius Junius, 269; Marcus, 373. 

Bud'dha, 37, 38. 

Bur-gun'di-ans, 440, 454. 

Bur'rus, 393. 

By-zan'ti-um (Constantinople), founded, 
69 ; siege of, 137 ; revolt of, 221 ; capital 
of Roman empire, 424. 

Cad-mei'a, 205. 

Cad'mus, 55. 

Cae'li-an Hill, 267. 

Cae're, 286. 

Cae'sar, 367, 373 ; conquers Gaul, 368 ; at 

war with Pompey, 370; his government, 

372 ; writings, 377 ; imperial title, 390, 420. 
Cal-e-do'ni-a (Scotland), 398. 
Ca-lig'u-la, 390. 
Cal-li'nus, 106. 
Cam-a-ri'na, 192. 
Cam-bu'ni-an Mts., 43. 
Cam-by'ses, 32, 114, 125. 
Ca-mil'lus, 283-286. 
Cam-pa'ni-a, 260, 263, 287 ; under Rome, 

288. 
Cam'pus Mar'ti-us, 299, 386. 
Ca'naan, 26 ; conquest of, 27 ; promised to 

Abraham, 28. 
Can'nae, battle of, 324. 
Can-u-lei'us, law of, 305. 
Cap'i-to-line Mt., 269, 275. 
Cap'ri, 390. 
Cap'u-a, 287, 325. 
Car-a-cal'la, 415. 
Ca'ri-a, Ca'ri-ans, 66, 138, 147. 
Car-o-lin'gi-ans, 455. 



Car'thage, founded, 27; colonies of, in 
Sicily, 68; war in Sicily, 132, 191-197; 
treaty with Rome, 280, 319, 328; great 
power, 280, 296, 315; first war with 
Rome, 315-319; second, 321-328; third, 
332-334 ; destroyed, 334 ; again flourish- 
ing. 439- 

Cas-san'der, 240. 

Cas'si-us, Spurius, 280, 301 ; Quintus, 370; 
Caius, 373, 374; Avidius, 406. 

Castes of India, 36; see Ranks, Social. 

Cat'a-na, 175. 

Cat'i-line, 365. 

Ca'to, the Elder (censor), 332, 345-347; 
the Younger, 371. 

Ca-tul'lus, 378. 

Cat'u-lus (third century) , 319 ; colleague of 
Marius, 355. 

Cau-cas'i-an race, 2. 

Cau'dine Pass, 289. 

Cavalry, Athenian, 87; Thessalian, 146, 
293; Boeotian, 210; Macedonian, 225; 
Roman, 272, 285; Aetolian, 329; see 
Knights. 

Ce-cil'i-a Me-tel'la, 379. 

Ce-cro'pi-a, Ce'crops, 56, 57. 

Celts, 2, n. I ; see Gauls. 

Cen'sors,3o6, 341, 343, 346; vinder Augus- 
tus, 383. 

Census, Greek, 81, 87, 94 ; Roman, 276. 

Cen'taur, 58. 

Centuries, in Roman army, 277 ; in assem- 
bly, 299. 

Cen-tu'ri-on, 300, n. 3. 

Ce-phis'sus River (Attic), 45; in Phocis 
and Boeotia, 44. 

Cer'be-rus, 50, 55. 

Chae-ro-nei'a, battle of, 226. 

Chal-cid'i-ce, described, 69; invaded by 
Brasidas, 167; ally of Philip, 222; towns 
of, destroyed, 224; Chalcidic League, 
205, 221. 

Chal'cis, colonies of, 67, 69; joins Sparta 
against Athens, 104. 

Chal-de'a.Chal-de'ans, 2,n. i, 15; suprem- 
acy of, 16; civilization, 18-25. 

Cha-lons', battle of, 441. 

Cham-pol'li-on {S/iam-).^. 

Charles Mar-tel', 455-457; t'le Great 
(Char-le-magne'), 458-460. 

Cha'ron, 50. 



48o 



Index 



Cher-so-nese', 114. 

Chi H\vang-ti, 38. 

Children, Greek, 204; in Roman empire, 
403, 405, 464. 

Chi'na, Chinese, 2, 37-39. 

Chi'os, 65; ally of Athens, 148, 163 ; rovolt 
of, 179, 221. 

Chorus, Greek, 108. 

Chow Dy'nas-ty, 37. 

Christ (Messiah), 30, 389, 396, 423. 

Christianity, 39 ; publicly recognized, 422 ; 
opposed by Julian, 429; see word below. 

Christians, in the empire, 395, 407-409; 
under Constantine, 422-424, 425. 

Chry-sos'tom, John, 430. 

Church, Christian, 408; organization of, 422. 

Cic'e-ro, 365-367, 373 ; his writings, 378. 

Ci-li'ci-a, 72, 364. 

Cim'bri, 355, 359. 

Ci-min'i-an Hill, 283; Forest, 287, 290. 

Ci'nion, 123, 137; Age of, 135-144; lead- 
ing admiral, 138; ostracism, 144; in 
politics. 140, 142; character, 143, 144, 
147 ; his death, 147. 

Cin-cin-na'tus, 281. 

Cin'e-as, 293. 

Cin'na, 359. 

Cir'cus Max'i-mus, 276. 

Cis-al'pine Gaul, 334, 367. 

Ci-thas'ron Mt., 45, 129. 

Citizenship at Athens, 152, 153; Roman, 
277, 286, 288, 338 ; given the Italians, 
357; the provincials, 372, 392, 415. 

City-state {po'lis), sacred hearth of, 71; 
religion, 71, 73; organization, 73; su- 
premacy of, ended, 218; Italian, 256; 
limitations of, 336. 

Civil service, Chinese, 38; Roman, 405. 

Civilization, earliest, i ; Egyptian, 4, 9-14; 
Oriental, 9; Chaldean and Assyrian, 
18-25 ; Phoenician, 26 ; Hebrew, 29-31 ; 
Persian, 32-35; Hindoo, 36; Chinese, 
37-39; Prehistoric Greek, 49-51, 61-64; 
Ionian, 112; Asiatic and European, con- 
trasted, 122 ; Athenian, under Cimon, 
144; under Pericles, 154-160; in fourth 
century, 227, 232, 245 ; Hellenistic, 239, 
245-247; Etruscan, 260; Italian, 255; 
early Roman, 270-279, 312-314, 347; 
imperial, 384-389, 399, 407-412; Ger- 
man, 431-433- 



Classes, census, at Athens, 81, 87, 94; at 
Rome, 276; in comitia centuriata, 299. 
See Ranks, Social. 

Claudius, Appius C. Caecus, 290, 293, 311 ; 
Appius (decemvir), 303; Publius, 318; 
emperor, 392. 

Cla-zom'e-nae, 205. 

Cleis'the-nes, 92-95. 

Cle-om'e-nes (sixth century), 92, 104, 115; 
the reformer, 244. 

Cle'on, 164-168. 

Cle-o-pa'tra, 371, 375. 

Client, 272, 300, 302, 340. 348, 353, 467. 

Clo-a'ca Max'i-ma, 275. 

Clo-til'da, 454. 

Clo'vis, 454. 

Cly-tem-nes'tra, 60. 

Cni'dus, battle off, 204. 

Cnos'sus, 57. 

Co'drus, 79. , 

Coinage, of Athens, 88; of Rome, 312. 

Col'chis, 58. 

Col-la-ti'nus, Tar-quin'i-us, 269. 

College, Roman, 269, 272,309, n. 2. 

Col'line Gate, battle of the, 360. 

Co-lo'ni, 424. 

Colonies, Phoenician, 27, 68; Greek. 42; 
before 1000, 65 ; Achaean and Locrian. 
66; Ionic and Doric, 67; organization 
of, 71 ; Athenian, 105 ; Alexander's, 239; 
Seleucid, 241 ; Roman, 286, 294; Latin, 
286, 295, 325 ; of G. Gracchus, 353 ; 
Augustan, 384. 

Col-os-se'um, 397. 

Co-mi'ti-a (assembly), 300, 341; curiata, 
272, 299; centuriata, 298-300, 310, 343, 
361 ; tributa, 302, 304, 310, 356, 361. 

Co-mi'ti-um, 272, 276. 

Commerce, Egj-ptian, 4; Syrian, 13; be- 
tween Asia and Europe, 16, 26; Baby- 
lonian, 25; Phoenician, 26; Hebrew, 30; 
prehistoric Greek, 62 ; Ionian, 66; Mas- 
salian,7o; Athenian, 88, 137, 171 ; Lace- 
daemonian, 97; Roman, 270, 304, 311; 
among provinces, 338. 

Com'mo-dus, 413. 

Commons, Egj'ptian, 9; Hindoo, 36; pre- 
historic Greek, 62; Athenian, 81, 83, 88, 
94; in Athenian empire, 149, 165; Etrus- 
can, 260; Alban, 267; Roman, see Ple- 
beians. 



Index 



481 



Con-cor'di-a, temple of, 310. 

Confederacy of De'los, see Delos, Con- 
federacy of; Athenian maritime (fourth 
century), 208. 

Con-fu'ci-us, 37. 

Congress, Peloponnesian, 103, 162, 185; 
Hellenic, 126, 233. 

Co'non, 185, 203. 

Conservatives at Athens, 124, 140, 146, 149. 

Con'stan-tine the Great, 421-425, 426 ; sons 
of, 428. 

Con-stan-ti-no'ple, see Byzantium. 

Con-stan'ti-us Chlo'rus, 420, 422. 

Constitution, see Government. 

Con'suls, 270, 280, 297 ; under Augustus, 
383 ; under Trajan, 402. 

Convention, Hellenic Peace, 208. 

Cb-pa'is, Lake, 44. 

Cor-cy'ra, 161, 173. 

Cor-cy-rae'ans, in Persian War, 126, 133 ; 
navy of, 162. 

Cor-fin'i-um, 357. 

Cor'inth, 46; colonies of, 67,69; joins Pel- 
oponnesian League, 103 ; favors Athens, 
104, 150 ; war with Athens, 145 ; and Cor- 
cyra, 161 ; incites Sparta against Athens, 
162, 185 ; war with Sparta, 203 ; destroyed 
by Rome, 332. 

Cor-in'thi-an War, 203-206. 

Cor-ne'li-a, 349, 354. 

Cor'si-ca, 319, 335, n. i, 337. 

Cos, 221. 

Council, Greek (Bou-le'), prehistoric, 62; 
of Areopagus, 79, 80, 83, 87, 94 ; of Four 
Hundred and One, 81; of Four Hun- 
dred, 86, 87, 93; of Five Hundred, 94, 
151, 182; Spartan, loi ; of Nicaea, 423; 
German, 432. See Senate, Roman. 

Count, Roman, 421. 

Courts of Homicide at Athens, 83 ; popu- 
lar supreme (Hel-i-ae'a), 86, 87, 95, 150. 

Cras'sus, 363, 367, 369. 

Cres-phon'tes, 55. 

Crete, 27, 57. 

Cri-mi'sus River, battle of the, 196. 

Cri'sa, 44. 

Crit'i-as, 200. 

Croe'sus, 113. 

Cro'ton, 67. 

Cu'mae, 67, 261 ; Sibyl of, 268. 

Cu-nax'a, battle of, 201. 



Cu'nei-form, see Alphabet. 

Cu'ri-a, 271. 

Cu'rule chaii', 273, 297; offices, 297, n. 2, 

309. 341. 
Cyb'e-le, 347. 
Cy'clops, 54, 274. 
Cy'lon, 81. 

Cyn-os-ceph'a-Iae, battle of, 329. 
Cy-nu'ri-a, 104. 
Cy'prus, 27, 70. 
Cy-re'ne, 70. 
Cy'rus the Great, 31 ; conquers Lydia, 113 ; 

the Younger, 183, 201. 
Cy-the'ra, 104, 167. 
Cyz'i-cus, battle of, 182. 

Da'ci-a, 401, 418. 

Dag'o-bert, 455. 

Da'na-us, 53. 

Dan'ube River, crossed by Darius, 114; 
Romsin frontier, 381, 401, 404. 

Da-ri'us I, his organization of empire, 32; 
Scythian expedition, 114; angered at 
Athens, 116; plans to conquer Greece, 
118; sends Datis, 120; further prepara- 
tion, 125 ; Nothus, 183, 201 ; Codoman- 
nus, 235, 237. 

Da'tis, 120. 

Da'vid, 28. 

Dec'ar-chies, 199, 201. 

Dec-e-lei'a, 176. 

De-cem'virs, 303. 

De'ci-us (consul), 292; emperor, 417. 

De-la'tions, De-la'tors, 390. 

De'li-um, battle of, 167, 210. 

De'los, Confederacy of, 137-139; changed 
to empire, 148. 

Del'phi, 44; see Oracle. 

De-me'ter (Latin Ceres), 51, 173. 

De-moc'ra-cy at Athens, 88, 95, 143, 180, 
190; strengthened, 124; Greek, 133; in 
Peloponnesian League, 140; in Boeotia, 
147; in Athenian empire, 149; under 
Pericles, 150-153, 159 ; in western Greece, 
170; at Rome, 311, 351. 

De-mos'the-nes (general), 166, 177; ora- 
tor, 223, 227, 228, 242. 

Den-ta'tus, Man'i-us Cu'ri-us, 292, 313. 

Deu-ca'li-on, 52. 

Dic-ta'tor, 281, 289, 298, 360, 372. 

Di'o-ces-es, 420. 



482 



Index 



Di-o-cle'ti-an, 419-421; baths of, 426. 

Di-o-nys'i-us, 192-196. 

Di-o-ny'sus, 347. 

Do-do'na, 42. 

Do-mi'ti-an, 398. 

Do'ri-ans, 52; migration of, 52, 55, 65 ; in 

Italy and Sicily, 67-69, 171 ; in Africa, 

70. 
Do'ris, 53, 222. 
Dra'co, 82. 
Drama, under Pericles, 157; in Pelopon- 

nesian War, 187. 
Dru'sus, Mar'cus Liv'i-us, 356; son of 

Livia, 381. 
Du-il'i-us, 317. 
Duke, Roman, 421. 
Du-um'vi-ri per-du-el-li-o'nis, 298. 
Dy'ar-chy, 381-391 ; defined, 383 ; changed 

to monarchy, 392-399. 
Dy'nas-ty, Fourth Egyptian, 5 ; Twelfth, 6 ; 

Eighteenth, 7. 

E'a, 19. 

Ec-cle'si-a,-see Assembly, Athenian. 

Ec'no-mus, battle off, 317. 

Education, Spartan, 98-101; Athenian, 
248; Roman, 313, 463. 

E'gypt, 3-14; geography, 3; history, 5-9; 
civilization, 4, 9-14; conquered by As- 
syria, 9 ; independent, 9, 18 ; influence 
on Greece, 53, 70; revolts against Per- 
sia, 125, 147 ; yields to Alexander, 236 ; 
under the Ptolemies, 240, 241 ; ally of 
Rome, 296. 

E-gyp'ti-ans, 2, n. i. 

E'lam, 16. 

Elegy, Greek, 106. 

E-leu'sis, 45 ; mysteries of, 173. 

E'lis, 46, 55 ; games in, 77 ; joins Pelopon- 
nesian League, 103 ; ally of Athens, 169. 

E-lys'i-um, 50. 

Emperor, defined, 372, 383, 414, n. 2. 

Empire, Egyptian, 5-9; Chaldean, Assyr- 
ian, and Babylonian, 16-25; Persian, 
31-35; see Persians; Chinese, 37-39; 
Athenian maritime, 124, 147, 148-150, 
163; Alexander's, 239; Carthaginian, 
315; Roman, 337,381-462; divided, 430; 
end of, in West, 431, 443 ; eastern branch 
of, 448-450, 460-462. See Contents. 

Ep-am-in-on'das, 206; in peace conven- 



tion, 208 ; at Leuctra, 209 ; invades Pelo- 
ponnese, 214-217. 

&pei'rus, 42; plundered by Romans, 331. 

Eph'e-sus, battle near, 116. 

Eph-i-al'tes, 142, 143. 

Eph'ors, 101, 136, 185, 200, 212; in Per- 
sian War, 126; and Pausanias, 141. 

Epic, Greek, 61, 106 ; Age, 63. 

E-pis'ta-tes, 95. 

Erc'te, Mt., 318. 

E'rech, 19. 

E-rech-thei'um, 57, 155, 187. 

E-rech'theus, 57. 

E-re'tri-a, harbors Pisistratus, 90; aids 
lonians, 116; destroyed, 120. 

E'ryx, Mt., 319. 

E'sar-had'don, 18. 

E-thi-o'pi-a, 6, 7. 

E-tru'ri-a, 260, 263 ; invaded by Gauls, 
283 ; ravaged by Romans, 290. 

E-trus'cans, 256, 260 ; wars with Rome, 
280, 286, 290. 

Eu-dox'i-a, 430, 440. 

Eu-phra'tes River, basin of, 15-25. 

Eu-rip'i-des, 187. 

Eu-ro'pa, 55. 

Eu-ro'tas River, 47, 99. 

Eu-ry-bi'a-des, 127. 

Eu-rym'e-don River, battle of the, 138. 

Eux'ine, see Black Sea. 

Ex' arch, 449. 

Fa'bi-us (consul and censor), 290, 292, 312 ; 

Cunctator, 324. 
Factions, local, in Attica, 81, 89, 93. 
Family, Roman, 271. 
Faus-ti'na, Faus-tin-i-a'nae, 405. 
Fay-um', 7. 
Federation, .Athenian Continental, 147 ; see 

Leagues. 
Fla'men, 271, 274. 
Fla-min'i-an Way, 343, 385. 
Flam-i-ni'nus, 329. 
Fla-min'i-us, Gaius, 323, 343. 
Fleet, see Navy. 
Flood, Greek tradition of, 52. 
Fo'rum, Roman, 275, 284; Julian, 385; 

Augustan, 386. 
Four Hundred, oligarchy of, 181. 
Franks, 417, 428, 433, 445, 452,^453-460. 
Freedmen, 340, 372, 393, 467. 



Index 



483 



Frieze, defined, in. 

Frontier, under Augustus, 381 ; Claudius, 
393; Domitian, 398; Trajan, 401; A. 
Severus, 417; broken through, 429; un- 
der Valentinian, 429. 

Funeral Oration of Pericles, 164. 

Furies, 82, n. I. 

Ga-bin'i-us, 364. 

Ga'des, 27. 

Gai'ser-ic, 438-440. 

Gal'ba, 395. 

Ga'len, 410. 

Ga-le'ri-us,42o, 422. 

Gal'la Pla-cid'i-a, 430, 437, 438. 

Games, Greek national, 77, 108. 

Gaul, colonized by Greeks, 70 ; crossed by 
Hannibal, 321 ; conquered by Caesar, 
367-369 ; ravaged by Franks, 417 ; by 
Vandals, 438 ; Cisalpine, 334, 373. 

Gauls, in Thrace, 241 ; in Italy, 262, 334, 
343 ; on the Allia, 283 ; sack Rome, 284 ; 
at Sentinum, 292; under Rome, 296; in 
Hannibal's army, 322, 324; civilization 
of, 368 ; receive citizenship, 372. 

Ge-dro'si-an Desert, 238. 

Ge'la, 192. 

Ge'Ion, 126. 

Generals, Athenian, under Cleisthenes, 94 ; 
at Marathon, 121 ; chief magistrates, 124, 
152; at Arginusae, 183. 

Gens (Greek ^«wj, family), Athenian, 80; 
Roman, see Family. 

Ge-nu'ci-an Law, 310, n. i. 

Ger-man'i-cus, 389. 

Germans, cross the Rhine, 368 ; civiliza- 
tion of, 368, 431-433 ; and Augustus, 381 ; 
and Domitian, 398 ; cause decline of 
Rome, 425 ; migrations, 433 ; in Roman 
army, 425, 436, 443 ; invasions of empire, 
433-444 ; new states of, 445-460 ; outside 
the empire, 445, n. i; Alemanni, 418 
433; Angles, 445, 453; Burgundians, 440 
445 ; Franks, 417, 428, 433, 445, 453-460 
Goths, 417, 433-438, 446-449 ; Jutes, 452 
Lombards, 450-452; Marcomanni, 407 
Saxons, 445,452; Sueves, 438; Vandals, 

435. 437. 438-440. 445. 448. 
Gi-bral'tar, Strait of, 72. 
Girls. Spartan, loi ; Athenian, 248. See 

Children. 



Gi'zeh( Gee-), pyramids at, 5. 

Glad'i-a-tors, 348, 389, 397. 

Glau'ci-a, 356. 

Gods, see Religion. 

Gor'di-um, 235. 

Gor'go, 116. 

Gor'gons, 54. 

Goths, 417 ; cross the Danube, 418, 429, 
434 ; in Italy, 430, 436, 446-449 ; in 
Spain, 437; East, 433, 445, 446-449; 
West, 433, 437, 454, 456. 

Government, Egyptian, 5 ; Assyrian, 17, 
25; Hebrew, 28; Persian, 32; Chinese, 
37. 38 ; prehistoric Greek, 55 ; colonial, 
63; of city-state, 73 ; early Athenian, 79- 
85; under Solon, 85-88; under Pisistra- 
tus and his sons, 89-92 ; reformed by 
Cleisthenes, 93-95 ; under Pericles, 150- 
153 ; of the Four Hundred, 181 ; Lace- 
daemonian, loi ; early Roman, 255, 257, 
266; regal, 271-273; early republican, 
297-300; development of, 300-312; in 
time of Punic Wars, 340-343 ; of G. 
Gracchus, 353 ; Sulla, 360 ; Caesar, 372 ; 
Augustus, 383; Trajan, 402; Hadrian, 
404; Diocletian, 420-422; German, 432; 
of Charlemagne, 460. 

Governor, provincial, 337, 338, 372, 420. 

Grac'chus,348; Tiberius, 349-351 ; Gains, 

352-354- 

Gra-ni'cus River, battle of the, 234. 

Greece (Hel'las), defined, 46, 66, 72; ge- 
ography of, 41-48 ; relation with Orient, 
42 ; climate and products, 47 ; Great 
(Magna Graecia), 67, 194, 197; West- 
ern, 69; expansion of, 71 ; condition of, 
500 B.C., 105; war with Persia, 120-134; 
conquered by Rome, 328-332. See Con- 
tents, 

Greeks, 2, n. i ; in Egypt, 9, 70; in Asia 
Minor, 16, 31, 52, 65 ; character, 42, 127, 
329; western, 66-69, 169-178, 191-198, 
261 ; in Alexandria, 245-247. See Con- 
tents. 

Greg'o-ry the Great, 452, 453. 

Gy-lip'pus, 175. 

Gym-na'si-um, 2^9. 

Gym-no-pae'di-ae, 212. 

Ha'des, 50. 

Ha'dri-an, 403-405 ; ^^'all of, 404. 



484 



Index 



Ha-dri-a-no'ple, battle of, 434. 

Hal-i-car-nas'sus, 158. 

Ha'lys River, 31, 113. 

Ha-mil'car (king), 133, 191; Barca, 318- 
320. 

Ham'ites, 2, n. i, 3, 4, 32. 

Han'ni-bal (king), 191; Barca, 320-328; 
character, 320, 322; crosses the Alps, 
321 ; victories, 322-324 ; defeated at 
Zama, 328; death, 330. 

Har-mo'di-us, 91. 

Har'most, 199. 

Har'pa-gus, 113. 

Health, temple of, 346. 

He'brews, 2, n. i, 26; in Eg)'pt, 9; his- 
tory, 27-29 ; religion and literature. 29-31. 

Hec-te'mo-ri, see Tenants. 

Hec'tor, 59. 

He'ge-mo-ny, or He-gem'o-ny, 76. 

Hel'en, 59. 

Hel-i-ae'a, see Courts, popular supreme. 

Hel'las, see Greece. 

Hel'len, 52. 

Hel-le'nes, see Greeks. 

Hel-len' i-ca of Xenophon, 228. 

Hel-len-is'tic Age, 245-247. 

Hel'les-pont, 69, 125, 182, 184. 

He'lots, 97; revolt of, 141, 214. 

Hel-ve'ti-ans, 368. 

He-phaes'tus, 51, 59, 156. 

Hep'tar-chy, 453. 

He'ra (Latin Juno), 51. 

Her-a-clei'a, battle of, 293. 

Her-a-clei'dae, 55. 

Her'a-cles, 19, 54; Pillars of, 72. 

Her-a-cli'us, 461. 

Her-cu-la'ne-um, 398. 

Her'mes, 51 ; mutilation of images of, 173. 

Her'ni-cans, 262, n. i, 280, 286. 

He-rod'o-tus, 158. 

Heroes, Greek, 53. 

Hes'i-od, 106. 

Hes'ti-a (Latin Vesta), 51. 

Hi'e-ron, 317, 325. 

Him'e-ra, battle of, 132; destroyed, 191. 

Hi-mil'con, 191, 193. 

Hin'doos, 2, n. i, 35-37. 

Hip-par'chus (son of Pisistratus), 91; 
kinsman of Hippias, 117, 123. 

Hip'pi-as, 91, 104, 105, 116, 121. 

His-ti-ae'us, 114. 



Hit'tites, 7, 9. 

Ho'mer, 43, 61, 106; edited, 246; in 

school, 249. 
Homicide, in prehistoric Greece, 62; in 

Draco's code, 83. 
Ho-no'ri-us, 430, 435, 452. 
Honors, career of, 342. 
Hor'ace, 387. 

Ho-ra'ti-us, and Valerius, 304. 
Hor-ten'si-an Law, 310, 341. 
Ho'rus, 12. 
House, Roman, 464. 
Huns, 434, 441-443- 
Hyk'sos, 7. 
Hy-met'tus, Mt., 45. 
Hyph'a-sis River, 239. 



Iambic verse, 107. 

I-a-pyg'i-ans, 262, n. i. 

I-con-o-clas'tic emperors, 462. 

ll'i-ad, 61. 

I-lis'sus River, 45. 

Il-lyr'i-an pirates, 328; wars. 331. 

Il-lyr'i-cum, 335, n. i, 367, 373. 

Im'bros, 205. 

Im-per-a'tor, 372, 383, 414, n. 2; see Em- 
peror. 

Im-pe'ri-um, 273, 299. 

In'di-a, 35-37 ; invaded by Alexander, 238 ; 
see Hindoos. 

In'dus River, 238. 

Industry, Egyptian, 13; Chaldean and 
Assyrian, 24; Phoenician, 26; Persian, 
34 ; Chinese, 39 ; early Greek, 62 ; 
Ionian, 66; Athenian, 88; Lacedaemo- 
nian, 97 ; Roman, 304, 311 ; in the prov- 
inces, 338. 

In-ter-reg'num, In'ter-rex, 273. 

I-ol'cus, 43, 58. 

I'on, 52, 73. 

I-o'ni-a, 66. 

I-o'ni-an Sea, 66, 174. 

lonians, 52, 65; character, 66, 112; con- 
quered by Persians, 113; revolt of, 114- 
117. 

I-phic'ra-tes, 204. 

Ip'sus, battle of, 240. 

I-ra'ni-ans, 2, n. i. 

I-re'ne, 462. 

I-sag'o-ras, 92. 



Index 



485 



Ish'tar (As-tar'te), 19. 

I 'sis, 13. 

Is'ra-el, 28. 

Is'ra-el-ites, see Hebrews. 

Is'sus, battle of, 235. 

I-tal'i-ans, 2, n. i ; migration to Italy, 254; 
races of, 262, n. i ; revolt, 357. 

I-tal'i-ca, 357. 

It'a-ly, Greek colonies in, 66-69; tyrants 
in, 105, 170; end of Greek freedom in, 
191-198 ; country and people, 254-264; 
races of, 262, n. 1 ; organization under 
Rome, 262, 294-296, 316, 336; decline of, 
339 ; under Caesar, 372 ; Augustus, 384 ; 
Trajan, 402 ; Aurelius, 407 ; invaded by 
Alemanni, 418; by West Goths, 436; by 
East Goths, 447; by Lombards, 450- 
452; divided into provinces, 421. 

Ith'a-ca, 60. 

I-tho'me, Mt., 47, 142, 143, 214. 

Iz-du-bar', 19. 

Ja'cob (Israel), 28. 

Ja-nic'u-lum, Mt., 267. 

Ja'nus, 273, 398. 

Ja'son, 58. 

Jax-ar'tes River, 239. 

Je-ho'vah, 28 ; temple of, 29 ; religion of, 
29-31. 

Je-ru'sa-Iem, 28, 31 ; destroyed, 396. 

Jews, 29; in Alexandria, 242, 246; in 
Rome, 395, 407 ; revolt of, 396. 

Jo-cas'ta, 56. 

Jon'a-than, 28. 

Jo-se'phus, 30. 

Ju'dah, tribe of, 28. 

Ju'da-ism, 39. 

Ju-de'a, 364. 

Judges, of Israel, 28; Greek, in under- 
world, 50; in Olympic games, 78 ; Athe- 
nian, 80, 85; local (justices), 91, 150; 
Roman, 297, 298. 

Ju'ge-rum, 309, n. i. 

Ju-gur'tha, 354. 

Ju'li-an, 428. 

Ju'no, 265, 271, 274. 

Ju've-nal, 410. 

Ju'pi-ter, 258, 269, 274. 

Ju'rors, Athenian, 143, 150. 

Jus-tin'i-an, 448-450. 

Jutes, 452. 



Khu'fu, 5. 

Kings, Egyptian, 5-9; Chaldean and As- 
syrian, 16-18 ; Hebrew, 28 ; Persian, 31- 
33 ; prehistoric Greek, 62 ; Athenian, 79 ; 
as archons, 80; Lacedaemonian, 55, 99, 
101 ; Roman, 265-279. 

Knights, Athenian, 87 ; Roman, 285, 340, 
393 ; recruited by Vespasian, 396 ; in 
civil service, 405. 

Ko'ran, 456. 

Lac-e-dae'mon, defined, 47, n. 2, 101 ; a 
great state, 76 ; government, loi ; con- 
quers Messenia, 102; relations with 
Croesus, 113; character in war, 127; in 
Persian War, 121, 126-132; interference 
in Athenian affairs, 135-137; trouble 
with Pausanias, 140; with the helots, 
141; rupture with Athens, 143, 145; in 
Peloponnesian War, 161-186 ; supremacy 
of, 199-21 1 ; war with Persia (fourth cen- 
tury) , 202 ; in Corinthian War, 203 ; vio- 
lence of, 205 ; defeated at Leuctra, 209 ; at 
Mantineia, 215 ; under Cleomenes, 244. 

La-co'ni-a, 47, 97 ; settlement of, 53 ; con- 
quered by Sparta, 76; invaded by 
Epaminondas, 214, 216. 

La'de, battle off, 116. 

Lam'a-chus, 173-175. 

La'mi-an War, 242. 

Land holding in Attica, 84 ; in Sparta, 97, 
98 ; under Rome, 307. 

La'res, 271. 

Lars Por'se-na, 260, 280. 

Latin colony, 286, 291 ; town (city), 258, 
286. 

Latin War, the Great, 287. 

Latins, 256 ; under Rome, 268, 278 ; revolt 
of, 280, 286, 287 ; treaty with Rome, 280 ; 
organized under Rome, 295 ; Latin 
League, 258, 280, 288. 

La-ti'nus, 265. 

La'ti-um, 256; under Rome, 268, 278; 
overrun by hillmen, 281-283. 

Lau-ren'tum, 288. 

Lau'ri-um (or Lau-rei'um), 124. 

La-vin'i-um, 265. 

Laws of Draco, 82; of Solon, 88; of the 
Twelve Tables, 302-304; codification of 
the Roman, 450. 

League, of lonians, 66; religious (Am- 



486 



Index 



phic'ty-o-ny), 73; Delphic, 74, 221; 

political, 76; Boeotian, 76, 146; Argolic, 

76; Peloponnesian, 102-106; Chalcidic, 

205, 221 ; Arcadian, 214 ; Hellenic, 227 ; 

Aetolian, 243 ; Achaean, 243; Latin, 258, 

280. 
Leb'a-non, Mt., 26. 
Legion, 277, 285, 329. 
Legislation, at Athens, 151 ; at Rome, see 

Comitia. 
Legislators, Athenian (Thesmothetae) , 80, 

(Nomothetae), 151. 
Lem'nos, 205. 
Le'o, bishop of Rome, 440, 442; III, 

459; the Isaurian, 461. 
Le-on'i-das, 126. 
Le-on-ti'ni, 171, 191. 
Lep'i-dus, 374. 
Les'bos, 52 ; home of the ballad, 107 ; ally 

of Athens, 148, 163 ; revolt of, 165. 
Leuc'tra, battle of, 209; effects, 212, 

213. 
Library at Nineveh, 24. 
Lib'y-a, 317, 328. 
Lib'y-ans, 2, n. i. 
Li-cin'i-us, and Sextius, Laws of, 307-310; 

emperor, 422. 
Lic'tors, 273, 297. 

Life, Ionian, 61; Spartan, 98-101; Athe- 
nian, 152, 153, 159, 248-253 ; Roman, 

270-272, 463-468. 
Li-gu'ri-ans, 262, n. i ; wars with Romans, 

334- 

Lil-y-bae'um, 318. 

Li'ris River, 287. 

Literature, Egyptian, 13; Chaldean and 
Assyrian, 18; Hebrew, 30; Persian, 35; 
Chinese, 37; Greek, epic, 61, 106; per- 
sonal poetry, 106-108; under Pericles, 
157; in Peloponnesian War, 187; in 
fourth century, 227-230; Hellenistic, 
245; under Rome, 410; early Roman, 
347; late republican, 377; Augustan, 
386 ; Flavian, 399 ; under good emperors, 
409 ; decline of, 425 ; German, 433. 

Liv'i-a, 381, n. i, 389. 

Liv'y, 386. 

Lo'cri, 67. 

Lo'cris, 43 ; colonies of, 66 ; ally of Lace- 
daemon, 163 ; overrun by Phocians, 222. 

Lom'bards, 445, n. i, 450-452; conquered 



by Franks, 457; Lombardy, Iron Crown 
of, 459- 

Lu-ca'ni-ans, 194, 291. 

Lu-cre'ti-a, 269. 

Lu-cre'ti-us, 378. 

Lu-cul'lus, 365. 

Ly-cur'gus, 55, 98, n. i, 100. 

Lyd'i-ans, 16 ; conquered by Cyrus, 31 ; 
under Croesus, 113. 

Ly'ons, 409. 

Lyric poetry, 107. 

Ly-san'der, 183; at Aegospotami, 184; en- 
ters Peiraeus, 186; policy of, 199, 201, 
205 ; death, 204. 

Ly'si-as, 195, 228. 

Ly-sim'a-chus, 240. 

Mac'e-don, Mac-e-do'ni-a, under Theban 
influence, 214, 220; aterritorial state, 218 ; 
country and people, 219; rise of, 219- 
227; under Alexander, 233-240; Cassan- 
der, 240; Antipater, 242; Philip ¥,244, 
325, 328; wars with Rome, 328,330; Ro- 
man province, 332, 337 ; plundered by 
Goths, 434. 

Mae'li-us, Spu'ri-us, 306. 

Ma'gi, 33, 416. 

Magistrates, early Roman, 297; in Punic 
Wars, 341-343 ; under Sulla, 361 ; see 
Archon, Consul, Praetor, etc. 

Mag-ne'si-a (Thessalian), 127; (in Asia 
Minor), battle of, 330. 

Ma'go, 323. 

Ma-har'bal, 325. 

Mam'er-tines, 316. 

Man'e-tho, 5. 

Maniple, 285, 328. 

Man'li-us, Mar'cus, 308. 

Man-tin-ei'a, first battle of, 169 ; destroyed, 
205; rebuilt, 213; second battle of, 215- 
217. 

Mar'a-thon, 45, 90; battle of, 121-123. 

Mar-cel'lus, 325. 

Mar-co-man'ni, 407. 

Mar-do'ni-us, 118, 130-132. 

Ma'ri-us, Gaius, 354-359; reforms the 
army, 355; conflict with Sulla, 358. 

Marriage, Athenian, 249; Roman, 271, 
464. 

Mars, 265, 274, 386; sons of, 256, 316; 
priests of, 274. 



Index 



487 



Mar'si-ans, 256. 

Mas-i-nis'sa, 328, 332. 

Masks, waxen, 306. 

Mas-sa'li-a, 70. 

Max-im'i-an, 420. 

Max'i-mus, 440. 

Mayor of the Palace, 455. 

Mec'ca, 455. 

Me-dei'a, 58, 187. 

Medes, 2, n. I, 15, 122; empire of, 31 ; see 
Persians. 

Me'don, 79. 

Me-don'ti-dae, 79. 

Me-du'sa, 54, iii. 

Meg'a-cles, 82. 

Meg'a-ra, 45 ; colonies of, 69 ; under a des- 
pot, 82; in Peloponnesian League, 104, 163. 

Me'los, 169, 185. 

Mem'phis, 5. 

Men-e-la'us, 59. 

Me-neph'tha, 9. 

Me'nes, 5. 

Mercenaries (hired troops), of Theagenes, 
82 ; Pisistratus, 90 ; Carthage, 133 ; Cam- 
panian, 316. 

Mer-o-vin'gi-ans, 455. 

Mes-o-po-ta'mi-a, 406. 

Mes-sa'pi-ans, 263. 

Mes-se'ne (Latin Mes-sa'na), 67, 194, 316; 
in Peloponnese, 214. 

Mes-se'ni-a, 47 ; Dorian settlement of, 53, 
55 ; conquered by Lacedaemon, 102 ; re- 
volt of, 142 ; liberated, 214. 

Messes, Spartan (Sys-si'ti-a), 100. 

Me-tel'lus, 354. 

Me-thym'na, 165. 

Metics, see Alien Residents. 

Met'o-pe, III, 156. 

Mi-lan', Edict of, 423. 

Mi-le'tus, 66, 115; colonies of, 69; de- 
stroyed, 117. 

Mil-ti'a-des, 114; flees to Athens, 117; at 
Marathon, 121 ; end of, 123. 

Mi-ner'va, 274. 

Mi'nos, 57. 

Min'o-taur, 57. 

Mith-ri-da'tes, 358, 364. 

Moe'si-a, 417. 

Mo-ham'rtied, 455. 

Mo-ham 'me-dans (Sar'a-cens), 39, 445-457, 
461. 



Monarchy, see Kings. 

Mon-go'li-an race, 2. 

Mo'ra, 204. 

Morals, Egyptian, 14 ; Assyrian, 21 ; He- 
brew, 30; Persian, 35; of Buddha, 37; 
prehistoric Greek, 51,61 ; of the Delphic 
oracle, 75 ; Roman, 348 ; in early empire, 
390 ; German, 432. 

Mo'ses, 28. 

Mum'mi-us, 332. 

Mun'da, battle of, 372. 

Mu-ni-cip'i-um, 286, 294; under Trajan, 
402; in late empire, 424, 

Mu-nych'i-a, 242. 

Muses, 245. 

Mu-se'um, Alexandrian, 247. 

Myc'a-le, battle of, 132. 

My-ce'nae, 47 ; prehistoric tombs, 50 ; kings 
of, 50, 54, 59 ; Mycenaean Age, 63 ; head 
of Argolis, 76. 

My'lae, battle off, 317. 

My-ro'ni-des, 147. 

Mysteries, Eleusinian, 173. 

Myths, of Greece, 52-64 ; value of, 63. 

Myt-i-le'ne, revolt of, 165. 

Na'ples, 288 ; Bay of, 67. 

Nar-bo-nen'sis, 355, 367. 

Nar'ses, 451. 

Nau'crar-ies, see Townships. 

Nau'cra-tis, 70. 

Nau-pac'tus, 147. 

Navy, Phoenician, 117, 125, 180; Athenian, 
105, 118, 124, 129, 174, 176; Persian, 125, 
127; Greek, 127, 130, 132; Syracusan, 
175, 180, 193 ; Carthaginian, 194, 317 ; 
destroyed, 328 ; Roman, 317. 

Nax'os, 115 ; revolt of, 139. 

Ne-ar'chus, 238. 

Neb-u-chad-nez'zar, 18, 23, 29. 

Ne'me-a, games at, 77. 

Ne-o-bu'le, 107. 

Ne'pos, 377. 

Ne'ro, 393-395. 

Ner'va, 400. 

Ner'vi-i, 368. 

Neus'tri-a, 455. 

Ni-cae'a, council of, 423. 

Nic'i-as, 166-168, 172-177; Peace of, 168. 

Nile River, 3, 7. 

Nin'e-veh, 17, 33; palace at, 23. 



488 



hidex 



Nobles, prehistoric Greek, 62; Athenian, 
79-85, 88; flee from Pisistratus, 90; in 
Cleisthenean organization, 94, 95 ; Spar- 
tan, loi ; Lesbian, 165; Etruscan, 259; 
Alban, 267 ; Roman, see Patricians ; 
new nobility, 309, 342 ; and Tiberius, 
389 ; and Claudius, 393 ; recruited by 
Vespasian, 396. 

No-moth'e-tae, 151. 

Nu'ma, 267, 273. 

Nu-man'ti-a, 334. 

Nu-mid'i-a, 328, 332, 354. 

Obelisk, 12, n. 2. 

Oc-ta'vi-a, 374, 

Oc-ta'vi-us (tribune), 351; consul, 359; 
Octavianus (Augustus), 372-376; see 
Augustus. 

0-do-a'cer, 431, 443, 447. 

O-dys'seus, 60. 

Od'ys-sey, 61. 

Oed'i-pus, 56, 157. 

Oe-noph'y-ta, battle of, 147. 

Ol'i-garchs, at Athens, 146, 159, 186; con- 
spiracy of, 180; in Boeotia, 147 ; in Athe- 
nian empire, 149, 165; under Spartan 
protection, 103, 199. 

Ol'i-gar-chy, defined, 103, n. i; favored by 
Sparta, 103; of the Four Hundred, 181; 
of the Thirty, 200 ; Theban, 206-208 ; see 
Aristocracy, Plutocracy. 

O-lym'pi-a, 46; games at, 77. 

O-lym'pi-as, 233. 

O-Iym'pus, Mt., 43; gods of, 51. 

O-lyn'thus, 222, 224. 

O-pim'i-us, 353. 

Oracle, at Dodona, 42; at Delphi, 44, 74- 
76; in Persian War. 75, 129; favors 
Cleisthenes, 92, 104; as to Arcadia, 
102. 

Oratory at Athens, 228. 

Or-chom'e-nus, 44 ; prehistoric tombs, 50; 
rival of Thebes, 76. 

O-res'tes (patrician), 431. 

O'ri-ent, the, 1-40; civilization of, 9. 

Or-tyg'i-a, 67. 

O-si'ris, 12, 13. 

Os'sa, Mt., 43. 

Os'ti-a, 267. 

Os'tra-cism, 95 ; cases of, 123, 124, 141, 143, 
149. 



Os'tro-goths (East-Goths), see Goths. 
O'tho, 395. 

Pa-ga-sae'an Gulf, 43. 

Painting, Roman, 347, 411. 

Pal'a-tine Mt., 259, 265, 266, 275. 

Pa-les'tra, 249. 

Pal-my'ra, 419. 

Pam-phyl'i-a, 138. 

Pan, 264. 

Pan-ath-e-na'ic festival, 91. 

Pan-do'ra, 52. 

Pan-gae'us, Mt., mines of, 90, 221, 

Pan-no'ni-a, 438. 

Pa-nor'mus, 133; battle of, 318. 

Pan-the'on, 386. 

Pa-pin'i-an, 414. 

Pa-pir'i-us, 284 ; Lucius P. Cursor, 289. 

Pa-py'rus, 13. 

Par'a-lus, 185. 

Par'is, 59. 

Par-me'ni-on, 236, 237. 

Par-nas'sus, Mt., 44, 52, 74. 

Par'nes, Mt., 200. 

Par'non, Mt., 47, 104. 

Pa'ros, 107, 123. 

Par'the-non, 154. 

Par'fhi-ans, 364, 369, 406; conquered by 
Trajan, 401 ; fall of empire, 416. 

Parties at Athens, republican, 118, 123; 
tyrant's, 117; democratic, 124; conserva- 
tive, 124, 140, 146, 149; at Rome, see 
Patricians, Plebeians, Nobles. 

Pa-sar'ga-dae, 33. 

Pa-tri'ci-ans, 272; magistrates and sena- 
tors, 298; oppress the commons, 300; 
alone know the laws, 302 ; intermarriage 
with plebs, 305 ; equality with plebs, 310, 
341 ; title under Constantine, 431 ; see 
Nobles. 

Pat'ri-mo-ny of St. Peter, 452, 457. 

Pa'fron, 272. 

Pa'trum Auc-tor'i-tas, 273. 

Pau-sa'ni-as (regent), 131; treason of, 
137, 140; king, 201 ; author, 410. 

Pa'vi-a, 451. 

Pay for public service, 86, 140, 143, 
151. 

Peace, see Treaty. 

Ped'i-ment, defined, iii. 

Pei-rae'us, harbors of, 117; fortifications, 



Index 



489 



137; and Long Walls, 146; plague in, 
164 ; naval preparations in, 172. 

Pe'li-on, Mt., 43, 58. 

Pe-iop'i-das, 206-208, 210, 217. 

Fel-o-pon-nese', 42, 45-47. 

Peloponnesian League, 102-106; in Per- 
sian War, 119; enlarged, 126, 167; 
democracy in, 140; Athens deserts, 144, 
145 ; at war with Athens, 161-1B6. 

Peloponnesian War, 161-186; causes, 161- 
163; to peace of Nicias, 163-168; mid- 
dle period, 168-178 ; closing years, 179- 
186. 

Pe-na'tes, 271. 

Pe-nei'us River, 43. 

Pen-tel'i-cus, Mt., 45, 154, 

Per-dic'cas, 240. 

Per'i-cles, 143; Age of, 145-160; imperial 
policy, 148 ; his democracy, 150-153 ; 
improvement of city, 154-157 ; literature 
under, 157-160; in Peloponnesian War, 
161-164. 

Per-i-oe'ci, 97, 142. 

Per'i-style, 465. 

Per-sep'o-lis, 33 ; taken by Alexander, 
238. 

Per'seus, 54, iii ; king of Macedon, 330. 

Per'si-ans, 2, n. i, 15 ; history, 31 ; civiliza- 
tion, 32-35 ; conquer lonians, 113 ; in- 
vade Europe, 114; Ionic revolt against, 
114; great war with Greece, 120-134; 
dislodged from Aegean, 139; peace 
with Athens, 148; aid Sparta against 
Athens, 179-183; expedition of Cyrus, 
201 ; war with Lacedaemon, 202-204 '< in 
treaty of Antalcidas, 204; conquered by 
Alexander, 234-239 ; new empire of, 415- 
417, 428, 429, 461. 

Pha'lanx, Spartan, 99, n. 1; Theban, 210; 
Macedonian, 224, 276, 293, 329; early 
Roman, 276, 281, 285, 324. 

Pha-le'rum, 117, 146. 

Pha'raohs, 5-9, 10. 

Phar-na-ba'zus, 179. 

Phar'na-ces, 371. 

Phar-sa'lus, battle of, 370. 

Phei'di-as, 156, 159. 

Plici'don, 104. 

Plii-dip'pi-des, 121. 

Philip of Macedon, 220-227, 233; ascends 
the throne, 220; wars with Athens, 221- 



225, 227 ; character, 224 ; death, 233 ; V, 
244. 325. 328. 

Phi-lip pi, battles of, 374. 

Phil-ip'pics of Demosthenes, 224; of 
Cicero, 373. 

Phi-lis'tines, 28. 

Philosophy, early Greek, 109; under 
Pericles, 158 ; in Peloponnesian War, 
188-190 ; in fourth century B.C., 229, 245 ; 
Stoicism, 393, 405. 

Phi-lox'e-nus, 195. 

Pho-cae'ans, 70. 

Pho'cis, 44; in sacred war, 221, 225. 

Phoe-ni'cians, 2, n. i, 25-27; commerce, 
26; alphabet, 27; colonies in Sicily, 68; 
in Spain, 71 ; in Persian service, 117; at 
Salamis, 130; develop military spirit, 132. 

Phra'try, see Brotherhood. 

Phryg'i-a, 235, 240 ; settled by Goths, 435. 

Phy'le, see Tribe. 

Phy'le (a place in Attica), 200. 

Pi-ce'num, 343. 

Picts, 452. 

Pi'la, 285. 

Pin'dar, 68, 108, 234. 

Pirates, war against, 363. 

Pi-sis'tra-tus, 89-91. 

Plague (Pestilence), at Athens, 164; in 
Roman empire, 406. 

Pla-tae'a, ally of Athens, 122, 148, 163; 
battle of, 131 ; taken by siege, 166. 

Pla'to, 195, 229. 

Plau'tus, 347, n. 1. 

Ple-bei'ans, 272 ; enter the cavalry, 285 ; 
win their rights, 297-314; first secession, 
300; organization, 301; intermarriage 
with patricians, 305 ; eligible to consul- 
ship, 308; of city, 310-312; equal with 
patricians, 310, 341. 

Plin'y the Elder, 399; the Younger, 410. 

Plo-ti'na, 403. 

Plu'tarch, 410. 

Plu-toc'ra-cy, growth of, in Rome, 336- 
348 ; defined, 343, i^. 2. 

Po River, 262 ; valley, 322, 343. 

Poetry, epic, 61, 106; personal, 106-108; 
lyric, 107; dramatic, 157, 187; Roman, 

347, 378. 387- 
Poitiers {Piod-fe-d') , battle of, 456. 
Pol'e-march, Athenian, 80, 121, 124; 

Boeotian, 206. 



490 



Index 



Pol 'is, see City-state. 

Po-lyb'i-iis, 332, 347, n. i. 

Pom-pei'i, 398, 411, 464. 

Pom'pey, Gnae'us, 362-367, 369-371; in 

the East, 364 ; a triumvir, 367 ; at war 

with Caesar, 370. 
Pontiff (Pon'ti-fex), 275, 310, 372. 
Pon ti-us, 289. 
Pon'tus, 358, 364. 
Pope, 444, 452; temporal prince, 452; 

and Pippin, 457; and Charlemagne, 459. 
Po-sei'don, 51, 77, n. 2; contends with 

Athena, 57; temple of, no. 
Po-si-do'ni-a, no. 
Pot-i-dae'a, 69, 162. 
Prae-nes'tP, 258, 288, 295. 
Prae'tor, 309, 337, 361. 
Pre'fect, 286, 288 ; pretorian, 390, 417, 420. 
Pre'fec-ture, 294, 420. 
Pres'by-ters, 422. 
Pre-to'ri-an Guard, Pretorians, 384, 392, 

400; violence of, 414, 417. 
Pri'am, 59. 
Priests, Egyptian, 10, 70; Chaldean and 

Assyrian, 21; Hebrew, 30; Persian 

(ma'gi),33; Greek, Delphic, 75 ; Roman, 

271, 274; priest-king, Athenian, 80, 84; 

Roman, 298. 
Prince (emperor), 383. 
Pro-co' pi-US, 449. 
Pro-magistrate (proconsul, propraetor), 

327, n. I, 337, 342, 361 ; proconsular 

power, 383. 
Pro-me'theus, 52. 
Provinces, Assyrian, 17; Persian, 32; 

Chinese, 38; Roman, 319, 335, 337-339, 

345 ; under Caesar, 372 ; Augustus, 382 ; 

Tiberius, 389; Claudius, 392; Nero, 

394; Vespasian, 396; Domitian, 398; 

Trajan, 402; equal with Rome, 415; 

under Hadrian, 404; Diocletian, 420. 
Pryt'a-neis, Pryt'a-ny, 94, 152. 
Psam-met'i-chus, 9, 70. 
Plah, 13. 
Ptol' e-my, 240, 241, 245, 371 ; astronomer, 

410. 
Pub-lil'i-us, Quin'tus P. Phi'lo, 289, 310; 

Vo'le-ro, 302. 
Punic War, First, 315-319; Second, 321- 

328 ; Third, 332-334 ; see Carthage. 
Pyd'na, battle of, 331. 



Py'los, captured, 166. 
Pyr'rha, 52. 

Pyr'rhus, 197, 293, 315. 
Py-thag'o-ras, 109. 
Pyth'i-a, 74. 

Quaes'tors, 298, 304, 337, 342, 361; mili- 
tary, 307. 
Quin'que-remes, 193, 317. 
Quin-til'i-an, 399. 
Qui-ri'nal, 267. 

Ra, 12. 

Races of mankind, 2. 

Ra-me'ses H, 7-9. 

Ram'man, 19. 

Ranks, social, Egyptian, 9; Hindoo 
(castes), 36; Lacedaemonian, 97-101 ; 
Lesbian, 165; Alban, 267; Roman, 272. 
See Commons, Nobles. 

Ra-ven'na, 447. 

Red Sea, 15. 

Re-gil'lus, Lake, battle of, 280. 

Reg'u-lus, 317, 

Religion, Egyptian, 12; Chaldean and 
Assyrian, 19-21; Hebrew, 29-31; Per- 
sian, 34, 416; Hindoo, 36; Chinese, 
38 ; Greek, 49-52 ; of city-state, 73 ; of 
Apollo, 74-76; influence on art, 156; 
Roman, 273-275, 347, 388; Carthagin- 
ian, 316. 

Re'mus, 265. 

Republic, Roman, founded, 278, 280. See 
Contents. 

Republicans, Athenian, 117, 123. 

Revolution from republic to empire, 349- 
380. 

Rex Sa-cro'rum, 298. 

Rhe'gi-um, 67, 171. 

Rhetoric, 249. 

Rhine River, frontier of, 369, 381, 404. 

Rhodes, 27, 221. 

Rhone River, crossed by Hannibal, 321. 

Ric'i-mer, Count, 431. 

Rig Vf'da, 36. 

Roads, Roman 291 ; Appian, 290, 296, 311 ; 
Flaminian, 343; under Augustus, 383. 

Ro'land, 458. 

Roman colony, 286. 

Ro-mance' languages, 425. 

Romans, character, early, 270, 277, 287 ; in 



Index 



491 



golden age, 313 ; in Punic Wars, 337 ; 
in early empire, 390; see word below. 

Rome, culture of, from Greeks, 67 ; con- 
quers southern Italy and Sicily, 197; 
conquers Greece, 244 ; founded, 258, 
266; place in history, 263; under kings, 
265-279 ; policy of conquest, 277 ; early 
republic, 280-314; organizes territory, 
286, 294-296; changes in constitution, 
297-314; first war with Carthage, 315- 
319; second, 321-328 ; third, 334; grows 
illiberal, 340; under the emperors, 381- 
460 ; great fire in, 395 ; causes of decline, 
424; sacked by Goths, 436; by Vandals, 
439. See Contents. 

Rom'u-lus (king), 265-267, 273; Augus- 
tulus, 431. 

Ron-ces-val'les, 458. 

R /sa-mond, 451. 

Ro-set'ta stone, 5. 

Ru'bi-con River, 361 ; Caesar crosses, 370. 

Sa-bel'li-ans, 255, 357. 

Sa'bines, 255, 263; myth of women, 266; 

wars with Rome, 268, 2S1. 
Sacred Band, 210, 227. 
Sacred Mount, 301, 304. 
Sacred Way (Via Sacra) , 282, 426 ; map 

of, 386. 
Sa-gun'tum, 321. 
Sal'iust, 378. 
Sam'ni-um, 255; wars with Rome, 287- 

293- 
Sa'mos, revolt against Persia, 132; ally of 

Athens, 148; revolt, 149; independent, 

180; Athenian army at, 182. 
San'skrit, 3, n. i, 36. 
Sa'por, 417. 
Sappho {Saf'/o), 107. 
S.ir'a-cens, see Mohammedans. 
Sar-din'i-a, 319, 335, n. i, 337, 345. 
Sar'dis, 116, 125, 201. 
Sar'gon, 18, 22. 
Sa'trap, Sa'tra-py, 32, 179. 
Scit'urn, 274; temple of, 298. 
Sat-ur-ni'nus, 355. 
Saul, king of Israel, 28. 
Sax'ons, 445, 452. 
Sax'o-ny, 458. 
Scaev'o-la, Mu'ci-us, 350. 
Sca-man'der, 92. 



School, Athenian, 249. 

Science, Egyptian, 13 ; Chaldean and As- 
syrian, 24; Greek, 70, 245; see Philos- 
ophy. 

Scip'i-o, Pub'li-us (father), 322,326; Pub- 
lius Scipio Africanus (son), 327, 328, 
344; Gnaeus, 326 ; Lucius, 330; Publius 
Scipio Aemilianus, 334, 348, 351. 

Scots, 452. 

Sculpture, Egyptian, 8 ; Assyrian, 23 ; Per- 
sian, 33; early Greek, 109; under Peri- 
cles, 156 ; in fourth century, 231 ; Roman, 

347. 411- 
Scy'ros, 205. 
Scyth'i-ans, 18, 114. 
Se-ges'ta, 170, 174, 191. 
Se-ja'nus, 390. 
Se-leu'ci-a, 241. 
Se-leu'ci-dae, Se-leu'cus, 240, 241, 296; 

Seleucid empire, 330. 
Se-li'nus, ruins at, no; threatens Segesta, 

170, 191. 
Sem'ites, 2, n. i, 3; original home, 15; 

about Tigris and Euphrates, 16-25; 

Syrian, 25-31 ; achievements, 39. 
Sem-pro'ni-us, 322. 
Sen'ate, Roman, under kings, 273; in early 

republic, 241, 304, 310; in Punic Wars, 

325, 335. 341 ; strengthened by Sulla, 

360 ; under Caesar, 372 ; Augustus, 383 ; 

Domitian, 398; Nerva, 400; Trajan, 

402; Diocletian, 421. 
Sen'e-ca, 393-395. 399- 
Sen-nach'e-rib, 18, 23. 
Se-no'nes, 296. 
Sen-ti'num, battle of, 292. 
Sep'tu-a-gint, 246. 
Ser-to'ri-us, 362, 
Ser-vil'i-us, 307. 
Ser'vi-us Tul'li-us, 268, 281 ; his army and 

tribes, 276. 
Set'i, 7. 
Se'ti-a, 286. 
Se-ve'rus, Sep-tim'i-us, 414; Alexander, 

415-417. 
Sex'ti-us, 308. 
Sha'mash, 19. 
Shell-fish, purple, 26. 
Sib'yl of Cumae, 268. 
Sib'yl-line books, 268, 309, n. 2. 
Sic'els, 192. 



492 



Index 



Si-cil'i-an expedition, 172-178 ; effects of, 
179. 

Sic'i-ly, Greek colonies in, 6j-6g ; tyrants 
in, 105, 170; invaded by Carthaginians, 
132, 191-197; end of Greek freedom in, 
191-198 ; by Athenians, 169-177 ; in First 
Punic War, 316-319. 

Sic'y-on (Sis/i-), 103, 243. 

Si'don, 26. 

Si-gei'um, 92, 105. 

Silk-culture, 37 ; brought from China, 449. 

Sin (Chaldean god), 19. 

Si'nai, Mt., 28. 

Slaves, prehistoric Greek, 50, 62 ; Athenian, 
252; Roman, 293, 312, 340, 424, 466; in 
provinces, 338 ; under Claudius, 393 ; 
Nero, 394 ; Antoninus, 405 ; in late em- 
pire, 424, 466. 

Slavs, 2, n. I, 460. 

Social War, Athenian, 221 ; Italian, 357. 

Soc'ra-tes, 188-190; Afemoirs of, 228. 

Sog-di-a'na, 238. 

Soissons {Szviis-son'), battle of, 454. 

Sol'o-mon, 29. 

So'lon, 85-88. 

So'phi-a (or So-phi'a), St., cathedral of, 
449. 

Soph'ists, 158, 188. 

Soph'o-cles, 157. 

Spain, Phoenicians and Greeks in, 27, 71 ; 
Hamilcar in, 320; conquered by Rome, 
326, 327, 328, 334 ; provinces of, 335, n. 
I. 337 ; conquered by Visigoths, 437; by 
Mohammedans, 456. 

Spar'ta, 47 ; under Lycurgus, 55 ; conquers 
Laconia, 76, 97 ; dependants, 97 ; govern- 
ment, loi ; head of Peloponnese, 102- 
106 ; conflict with Argos, 103 ; relations 
with Hippias, 104; in Persian War, 119, 
121, 126-132; interferes in Athenian af- 
fairs, 135-137 ; trouble with Pausanias, 
140 ; with helots, 141 ; earthquake at, 
142 ; rupture with Athens, 143, 145 ; in 
Peloponnesian War, 161-185 ; suprem- 
acy of, 199-2H ; defeated at Mantineia, 
217; aloof from Macedon, 233; under 
Cieomenes, 244; see Spartans. 

Spar'ta-cus, 363. 

Spar'tans, colonies of, 67 ; training, 98-101 ; 
army, 99 ; government, loi ; see Sparta. 

Sphac-te'ri-a, 166. 



Sphinx of Gizeh, 6. 

Stil'i-cho, 435. 

Sto'ic philosophy, 393, 405. 

Strass'burg, battle of, 429. 

Stry'mon River, 114. 

Styx River in underworld, 50. 

Sue-to'ni-us, 410, 

Sueves, 438. 

Sul'la, Lu'ci-us Cor-ne'li-us, 358-361. 

Su-me'ri-ans (or Ac-ca'di-ans), 16, 19. 

Suppliant, 82, n. 2. 

Su'sa, 32, 114; taken by Alexander, 238. 

Su'tri-um, 286. 

Syb'a-ris, 67. 

Sym'ma-chus, 448. 

Sym-po'si-um, 251. 

Syr-a-cuse', founded, 67; wars with Car- 
thage, 132, 191-197; head of western 
Greece, 133, 170-172; besieged by Athe- 
nians, 175-178; under Dionysius, 192- 
196; under Timoleon, 196; ally of Rome, 
317 ; plundered by Rome, 325. 

Syr'i-ans, 2, n. i ; country, 15, 25; com- 
merce, 7, 13, 15, 26; conquered by 
Elam, 16 ; peoples of, 25-31 ; petty king- 
dom of, 330; Roman province, 364, 369, 
406. 

Sys-si'ti-a, see Messes, Spartan. 

Tac'i-tus, 409. 

Tal'mud, 31. 

Tan'a-gra, battle of, 146. 

Ta'o-ism, 38. 

Ta-ren'tum, founded, 67; war with Rome, 

197, 293 ; revolt of, 325. 
Tar'quin, 267-270, 278 ; Tar-quin'i-us Pris'- 

cus, 267 ; Su-per'bus, 268-270 ; Col-la-ti'- 

nus, 269. 
Tar-quin'i-i, 267. 
Tau'rus, Mt., 7, 330, 335. 
Taxes, Tribute, Assyrian, 17; Hebrew, 29; 

Persian, 32, 179; early Athenian, 81, 87; 

of Athenian allies, 138, 139, 149, 167 ; 

under Pisistratus, 91; Cleon, 164; 

Roman, 296, 337; under Caesar, 372; 

Vespasian, 397 ; Hadrian, 405; Severus, 

415 ; Diocletian, 424 ; in eastern empire, 

450, 460. 
Ta-yg'e-tus, Mt., 47, 98, 
Tem'pe, Vale of, 43, 126. 
Temple, of Amnion, 8; Chaldean and As- 



Index 



493 



Syrian, 21; of Jehovah, 29, 396; of Bel, 
24; of Poseidon, no; of Athena, 154; 
of Janus, 273; of Capitoline Jupiter, 
276, 384; of Mars the Avenger, 386. 

Tenants, Athenian (hec-te'mo-ri), 83-85; 
Roman, 300. 

Ter'ence, 347, n. i. 

Ter-en-til'i-us, 302. 

Tet'ri-cus, 419. 

Teu'to-berg Forest, 382. 

Teu'tons, 2, n. i; German tribe, 355. 

Tha'les, 109. 

Thap'sus, battle of, 371. 

Tha'sos, 139. 

The-ag'e-nes, 82. 

Theatre, Greek, 230; of Pompey, 384 ; see 
Drama. 

Thebes, Egyptian, 6; Greek, 44; heroes 
of, 55; head of Boeotia, 76, 146; joins 
Sparta against Athens, 104; in Corin- 
thian War, 203 ; under Sparta, 205 ; lib- 
erated, 207; in peace convention, 208; 
wins battle of Leuctra, 209; leading city 
of Greece, 212-218 ; defeated at Chaero- 
neia, 227; destroyed, 234. 

The-mis'to-cles, archon, 117; character, 
123-125, 140; at Salamis, 1 29-13 1 ; for- 
tifies Athens, 135-137 ; Peiraeus, 137 ; 
fate of, 140. 

The-oc'ri-tus, 246. 

The-o-do'ra, 448. 

The-od'o-ric (West-Goth), 441; East- 
Goth, 447. 

The-o-do'si-us, 429, 435. 

The-og'nis, 249. 

Ther-mop'y-lae, 222, 242 ; battle of, 126. 

The-sei'um, 155. 

The'seus, 57, 155. 

Thes-moth'e-tae (legislators), 80. 

Thes'sa-ly, 42, 43, 47 ; in Persian War, 
126; ally of Athens, 145, 146, 163; under 
Philip, 222, 224. 

Thirty, the, at Athens, 200. 

Thoth'mes III, 7. 

Thrace, 90; conquered by Darius, 117; 
under Philip, 224 ; Lysimachus, 240 ; 
plundered by Goths, 434. 

Thras-y-bu'lus, 200. 

Thu-cyd'i-des, son of Melesias, 149; the 
historian, 188. 

Thu'ri-i, 175. 



Tiber River, 256, 258, 270. 

Ti-be'ri-us, 381, 389-391. 

Ti'bur, 258, 288, 295. 

Ti-ci'nus, battle of the, 322. 

Tig'lath-pi-le'ser I and II, 17. 

Ti'gris River, basin of the, 15-25 ; Roman 
frontier, 402. 

Ti-mo'le-on, 196. 

Tir-i-ba'zus, 205. 

Tir'yns, 46, 76. 

Tis-sa-pher'nes, 179, 183, 202. 

Ti'tus (emperor), 397; Ta'ti-us, 267. 

Townships of Attica (nau'cra-ries), 81, 82, 
87; (demes) 93. 

Tra'jan, 400-403. 

Transmigration of souls, 12, n. i, 36. 

Tras'i-mene, Lake, battle of, 323, 343. 

Treason, Law of, 389, 393, 400. 

Treasury, Delphic, 75, 222 ; of Delian Con- 
federacy, 138, 148 ; of Athens, 164 ; of 
Rome, 298. 

Treaty, between Egypt and Hittites, 7 ; 
Greek, for Five Years, 147 ; for Thirty 
Years, 148, 161; of Nicias, 168; closing 
Peloponnesian War, 185 ; between Dio- 
nysius and Carthage, 192, 194 ; of Antal- 
cidas, 204, 208 ; Roman, with Latins, 
280; with Carthage, 280, 319, 328; with 
Samnites, 287, 290; of Caudine Pass, 
289 ; with Egypt, 296 ; with Mithridates, 
359. 365 ; with Dacians, 398, 

Treb'i-a, battle of the, 322. 

Tribal Age, 63. 

Tribes, Greek (phylae), 73, 80; four Ionic, 
73; in Attica, 81, 87; ten Cleisthenean, 
93, 94; Italian, 257; Roman (tri'bus), 
271, 286; Servian (local), 276,294,311, 
358; German, 432, 

Tri-bo'ni-an, 450. 

Trib'unes of the plebs, instituted, 301 ; 
struggle for rights, 301-309; tools of 
senate, 311; military with consular 
power, 305, 308; restricted by Sulla, 358, 
361 ; authority of, 383 ; under Augustus, 

383- 
Tribute, see Taxes. 
Tri-clin'i-a, 465. 
Trit'ty-es, 93, 94. 
Triumph, Roman, 282. 
Tri-um'vi-rate, First, 366-369 ; Second, 374. 
Troe'zen, 147. 



494 



Index 



Troy, 59, 63, 265 ; Trojan War, 59, 63. 
Truce lor Five Years, 147 ; for Thirty 

\ears, 148, 161 ; see Treaty. 
Tul'lus Hos-tii'i-us, 267. 
Tu-ra'ni-an race, 2, 16, 37. 
7us'cu-lum, 286. 
Tyrants, defined, 89; Pisistratus, 89-91; 

Hippias, 91; Ionian, 114; in western 

Greece, 105, 170; Dionysius, 192-196; 

" Thirty " at Rome, 417. 
Tyre, 26 ; destroyed, 236, 
Tyr-ih-'ni-an Sea, 260, 
Tyr-tae'us, 107, 

Ul'fi-Ias, 433. 
Ul'pi-an, 414, 417. 
Uni'bri-ans, 256, 290, 291. 
Ur, 16, 19, 28. 
U'ti-ca, 333. 

Va'lens, 429, 434. 

Val-en-tin'i-an, 429. 

Va-le'ri-an, 418. 

Va-le'ri-us and Horatius, Laws of, 304. 

Van'dals, 435, 437, 438-440, 445. 

Var'ro, 324, 344. 

Va'rus, 381. 

Vei'i, siege of, 283. 

Ven'e-ti, 369. 

Ven-e'ti-ans, 262, n. I. 

Ven'ice, 442. 

Vc'nus, 265, 274, 386. 

Ver'gll, 387. 



Ve'rus, Lu'ci-us, 405. 
Ves-pa'si-an, 395. 
Ves'ta, 271. 

Vestal Virgin, 265, 274. 
Ve-su'vi-us, eruption of, 398. 
Veto of tribunes, 305, 311. 
Vice-ge'rent, 420. 
Vis'i-goths, see Goths. 
Vol'sci-ans, 262, n. i, 28c 

Romans, 282, 286. 
Viil'can, 274. 



with 



Wall, Great, of China, 38; Servian, 268, 

276,379; of Hadrian, 404; of Aurelian, 

418. 
Walls, Long, 164; built, 145; destroyed, 

186; rebuilt, 204. 
Wit'i-gis, 448. 
Women, in prehistoric Greece, 61 ; Ionian, 

66; Spartan, loi ; Athenian, 249-251; 

Roman, 271, 464. 

Xan-thip'pus (Athenian), 123; (Lacedae- 
monian), 318. 
Xen'o-phon, 202, 227. 
Xerx'es, 125-132. 

Za'gros Mts., 15. 
Za'ma, battle of, 328. 
Zan'cle, 67, 
Ze-no'bi-a, 418. 
Zeus, 51. 
Zor-o-as'ter, 34, 416. 



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